FFX2: Spira Lost Memories
by Pen Stroke
Summary: The gap between FFX and FFX2. What happens when a Fallen Angel comes and pays a visit to Spira? This is a story of an Angel whose name carries the greatest Sin in the eyes of heaven and his interaction with Spira's own High Summoner and the young Al Bhed.
1. Prelude Chapter 1: First Glance

**Prelude: A Sin and a Fallen.**

Although I can only hear muffled words through her gag, I knew what she was saying because of what her eyes are implying. It's not words she wants to exchange and I know it. I slide the black 'cloth' off her lips so I can touch them with my own. She releases a gasp of air as finally the gag is off her mouth. As I lean my face closer, she reciprocates the motion by tilting her head to my direction. With mere inches between us, it doesn't take long until finally we lock in a full kiss, lips to lips. My assumption of what she wanted couldn't be any more accurate. While inside, her tongue playfully touches mine as it seems that they are dancing on their own rhythm. Rikku pushes forward with her head, and I lean back. With her legs saddled around my lap and her hands still tied behind her, I am pretty much her point of balance. Acknowledging the fact that I am her guidance right now, I slowly ease myself down, letting her follow me slowly. Her braided hair falling on me each time we decline. While we still keep our kiss in a lock, my right hand brushing down her nicely toned stomach and slithering down her left thigh and my other hand still cupping her right breast as I can feel their round form underneath her yellow bra. It was a few seconds before I was lying down and she was on top of me, but it seemed like it was one cohesive moment. We're so close together that I can feel her bare flesh on mine. I'm glad I took my shirt off earlier so I can feel her soft skin all over me. I want to feel more, and with her arms fighting desperately against her binds, I can tell that she wants to feel me to. With me no longer worrying about her falling over, I found my right hand veering towards her rear, happily caressing the form of it through her skirt. My left hand started to work on the bonds that held her wrists together. It's not easy to untie someone when they're fighting against it. The way I tied her wrists constricts harder when Rikku is pulling against it, like she is doing now. She bites my lower lip, forcing me to grip her binds which of course tightens the hold. She lets off a soft moan which delights me even more.

I think about it more as I get into the moment. Why am I doing this? Why am I untying her when not too long ago she was trying to stab me? Am I going to go through this? Better yet, what led to this page of the story that got me so intimately close to her?

Here's a better question… is this real, or just my fantasy?

I came from somewhere in the heavens only to fall in this strange world named 'Spira'. I know nothing of myself except my name: 'Lucifer' and this girl 'Rikku'. We are in a land where the sky never seems to stop crying of lightning. As Rikku calls it: 'Thunder Plains'. So these are the things I do know. Does it matter? Maybe. It all started when I woke up…

**Chapter One: The First Glance**

It's another day in Spira. The Eternal Calm that the High Summoner Yuna brought definitely changed the planet in a drastic way. How could it not have changed? For years and years Spira lived with fear knowing that some time Sin would come and devour all that they have built. Many summoners sacrificed themselves decade after decade just to be rid of sin for a few years or so, but it always came back. It was a redundant cycle that never ended until Yuna did something about it. She was also a summoner who followed the codes of Yevon until that one fateful day when she met the true face of her faith. That was her incentive to take a different route and find a better way. She did that with some help. When Yuna and her guardians permanently put Sin away and gave all the dreams a rest, everyone was finally able to see the world for more than doom and gloom. What was once a world driven by paranoia and despair now became a brand new planet with drastic change of cultures, hobbies, point of views in life, so forth and so forth. All of this happened within the year and a half after Sin's defeat. Rikku can't blame the world for moving on, as a matter of fact, she wanted them to move on. For the longest time she wanted her people, the Al Bhed, to live life without the label 'traitors' of society but at the same time she didn't want anymore summoners being sacrificed. That's part of the reason she's content in more ways than one. Rikku's happy because of the fact that she was able to save Yuna from a meaningless death and they defeated Sin permanently. But victory didn't come with a price. The Dreams of Zanarkand ended, and with it, so did the Fayth and Tidus who were all intertwined with the spiral of death that has loomed over the planet. With the Fayths no longer needed to dream, the product of their thoughts forever faded along with them. Of course it was only Yuna and her guardians that was affected by that for the most part. They had to part with Tidus and Auron forever it would seem. The rest of Spira lived on.

With everything going for the world it's no wonder Rikku is more than happy that the planet moved on. But of course Rikku can't help but notice that Yuna is still holding on to the memories. Tidus is still in her head. Rikku never tries to start a conversation about him because of the fact that it would just bring a bad vibe within Yuna. And something else comes with that Rikku never once mentioned Yuna, she herself had some sort of 'crush' as one would call it for Tidus. Of course she still thinks of him, but out of respect for her cousin, Rikku tries her best to submerge these emotions by acting like herself.

"GULLWINGS, ROUND UP!!"

It was her sibling, Brother talking through the intercom that spans across their ship, Celsius. Of course anyone would be forced to wake up as soon as his voice was heard.

"Oh not again," Rikku sits up from her bed and clutches her head. "What the hell does he want now?"

It's not that she doesn't respect Brother, it's just that sibling rivalry always seems to take over their relationship. It's a love and hate rapport that they've had since they were very young that carries on even to this day and age. Now that the threat of Sin seems to have passed, Brother and Rikku have more time to acknowledge their brother and sister interaction. Rikku sighs at the fact that he is the first one she has to interact with after she just woke up not too long ago. With a bit of hesitation, Rikku grabs her boots and slips them on. As soon as she has tied the laces, she walks to the mirror close to her bed and starts fixing her hair which always has a disheveled look to it because of the braids. Her spiral green eyes glowing even brighter this morning which conveys that she's ready to put on her usually jovial persona. It's not that she's being fake when she acts the way she does, she just doesn't want anyone to know how that she's still bothered by Tidus' disappearance. She forces a smile as she puts her blue bandana over her forehead and allows her bangs to drape over it. Turning away from her the mirror for a second, Rikku puts on her gloves on both hands and clenches her fists right after. Next is her red and gold scarf that hangs loosely around her neck like some sort of cape. As she grabs her long scarf to tie it around her neck, she can't help but notice that there's something different about her reflection this time around. There seems to be a figure of a man right behind her that's dressed in all black. Her heart stops for a second as she quickly turns around preparing herself for the worst case scenario.

"Who are you?!"

Rikku's voice echoes throughout the open space of Celcius' cabin. The Barkeep probably heard her loud and clear, and from the looks of the person who is standing a few feet away from her, Rikku's voice was loud enough to be an annoyance.

"Jumpy, aren't we?"

Rikku was expecting the same person that she saw in the mirror, instead she sees a young woman with short silverfish hair standing with her arms crossed in front of her. Rikku blinks a couple of times then turns her head back to the mirror. There wasn't a man in the reflection. She turns her head to the young woman again and she's still standing there with the stern look on her face.

"Paine." Her voice is nonchalant and almost cold.

"What?"

Still shocked and confused, Rikku stares at the woman who generally had the same color scheme as the man she saw in the mirror. She's wearing a black outfit that is most definitely a female's touch with the open shoulder black cowl and the red straps going down vertically on her body, the open belly to show off her nicely toned abdomens, the tight fitting leggings with the female boots, long black gloves, and of course the belts that are strapped all across her body. She is rather attracting if Rikku can say so herself, but she's not the same person she saw earlier. All she can remember are the black clothing and the red eyes.

"You asked for my name. It's Paine."

Rikku's mind starts getting fuzzy. Somehow she starts remember her dream in pieces. She shakes the thought off and turns her attention to Paine.

"Oh," Rikku scratches her head in embarrassment. "Well, I'm Rikku."

"You're Brother's sister, I know. He wanted me to make sure you're awake."

"Great," Rikku sags her shoulders down and lets off a sigh. "So he's my babysitter now too?"

"Well from the way you just acted, you might still be dreaming," Rikku just met Paine a few seconds ago and she can already conclude that they'll be having an interesting relationship just from the few words they've traded together. Not to mention their personality doesn't have the highest rate of compatibility. Rikku's always full of energy and straightforward. Paine's stoic and cold while being straightforward at the same time. "I'll see you at the bridge."

Before going down the stairs, Paine nods as a gesture of good bye then walks off to the bridge. Rikku on the other hand is still a little jarred at previous events that have just passed. She turns to the mirror again only to see her own incoherent expression. There was no one else in the mirror but her, and yet her eyes show some other person inside her mind. As she takes a closer look into her spiral green eyes, then suddenly the feeling of that dream starts to come to her again. She closes her eyes to delve more into what her mind has gotten herself into. In this dream is a man whose eyes are as red as blood. It almost reminds her of Paine's. He's close to her, she can feel his breath on her skin as he moves in and lays his lips on her neck. A wave of sensation starts to crawl through her skin as he kisses her underneath the small of her ear. Rikku tries to say something, but her voice seems to be out of sound. They say dreams can be a very strange place where all reality is stripped of its' grounds. Perhaps that is the reason why she can't speak. She tries to push him off so she can make some sort of sense into this, but it seems that her own limbs aren't reacting either. His kiss ends up on her shoulder blades and slowly trailing itself down to the middle of her chest. Rikku starts to shiver from the fear of uncertainty and the nature of what a girl would feel from what this man is doing to her. She hates to admit it, but this man with red eyes is doing exactly what Tidus gave her some time ago: a feeling of being wanted and quenching her very innocent sexual thirst. She wants to feel more, but at the same time she doesn't. But for some reason, Rikku is having no problem surrendering to her unconscious urges.

"RIKKU GET OVER TO THE BRIDGE!!"

Suddenly a familiar voice breaks through her daydream. Brother is screaming through the intercom in Al Bhed. That means that he's getting pretty worked up. Rikku shakes off the flashback realizing what exactly is going on. Still standing over the mirror, Rikku's flushed cheeks and her perspiring face says it all. Her breath is also quick and heavy while she finds her arms embracing her scarf tightly to her body.

"Coming…" Rikku quickly composes herself pretending she didn't realize what she was doing. "… I'm coming."

Tying her scarf around her neck, Rikku darts down the stairs and through the bar. Of course Barkeep is still there cleaning a few glasses with his towel. The hypello waves to Rikku as she runs past him. The young Al Bhed returns the formality with one of her cute smile before jumping into the elevator. She's not quite sure if Barkeep saw her enticing herself in her reflection, but even if he did, would it have really been a strange thing to him? Rikku have run across a handful of hypellos, and from what she has experienced, they are more concerned with their business than anyone else's business most of the time. Of course they would only get others involved if they are in dire need so that makes Rikku safe from any sort of gossip or embarrassment talk since he doesn't quite seem to be concerned with anything else but cleaning the glasses. Pressing the button to bring her to the bridge, the elevator door closes in front of her while she takes a deep breath.

"It wasn't real," Rikku whispers to herself. "It was just my fantasy."


	2. Chapter 2: Memories of the Night

**Chapter Two: Memories of the Night**

_A few months later…_

Learning how to breathe underwater is essential in Spira because it is a world that revolves around the element of water. It is almost impossible to live in Spira without having to go against the ocean. For some it is a reminder of Sin and all his tragedy that he brought with him. Others play for a living because it is the only thing that brings a certain entertainment that keeps Spira moving on. The game of Blitzball brought the greatest impact of thrill even when the world around them is almost guaranteed to be destroyed if Sin comes along. Then there are those who swim with their Machina across the great water body to discover new places or to just live life free. For Yuna, the water to her is a reminder of the man she lost in her great triumph as a High Summoner. As much as she tries, Yuna cannot get Tidus and the waters of Besaid separated. For starters, when Wakka first met Tidus, he came out of the shores of Besaid while the Aurochs were practicing, and from then on, the young Blitzball player stayed with them through thick and thin. After the incident in Bevelle, Yuna found herself in Macalania Woods crying herself in disdain from what she has found out from Yevon and its hypocritical ways. Tidus came and comforted her in the waters as her tears poured like rain drops in the darkest of nights. It was in the waters where their first kissed intertwined, and it is also in the same night that she found out that there was really something deep between Tidus and herself. Then the end of journey came when all the dreams of the fayth disappeared. And with that, Tidus and Auron faded with it. Now the only thing left that reminds her of him is the waters where somehow, she can still feel his embrace and his kiss.

Yuna had plenty of time to indulge herself through the waters of Besaid in the past, but since she abandoned her High Summoner job and went off with Rikku and the Gullwings to search for more spheres that might lead her to Tidus, Yuna has to sneak her way in through the night just to get back in the Besaid shores. It's not that she's not allowed or she doesn't want to see the village she grew up in, it's just that she doesn't know what to say if she is confronted by Lulu or Wakka about her decision on leaving Besaid in the most abrupt fashion. Also, she doesn't exactly want to deal with the village and its uproar on how their 'High Summoner' is stepping out of her conservative boundaries thus why she is swimming in this late night to avoid any contact.

It's very rare that Yuna has some time to herself. Aside from finding out more clues about Tidus, Yuna left Besaid partly because she wanted to do things for herself for once. Last time she saved the world, this time around her mission is personal, and rightfully so. But being a sphere hunter, she's learned that it's not all fun and games. There are dangerous battles to go through within every turn and it will take every ounce of effort she has to survive most of the time. This day was no walk in the park either and to top it off, the sphere ended up being nothing more than a dud. There wasn't any image of Tidus to help her out. So when the mission was said and done, Yuna ventured off on her own, and found herself here in Besaid. Slipping out of her gunner dressphere, Yuna decided to take a dip in the waters for a few hours this night. Wearing only her bathing suit, which of course matches her usual pink, blue, and white color schemes, Yuna can feel the cool moisture of the water slithering across her bare flesh as she swims back and forth, hoping to take her mind off the usual things that comes into her mind. She loves the feeling of water all around her. Ever since she was young, Yuna have always had a fascination with the water, and now that it has Tidus' memory incorporated with it, she has this great sensation that is filled with a happy-sad ring to it.

Taking a deep breath, Yuna submerges herself so that she can once again practice breathing underwater. She has passed her two minute limit and now she can reach somewhere around five minutes or so and she uses this time underwater unsparingly as she goes deeper into the depths. Of course her thoughts would never wander from what she is usually contemplating about.

"Maybe… Maybe if I call…."

Yuna thought to herself as she realizes that she is passing four minutes in holding her breath. Learning how to swim fast through Rikku and Wakka, Yuna found herself deeper under the waters than she would've thought. She must've been daydreaming too much to take note that she is delving deeper than what she can bargain for. Realizing that she is limited in breathe, Yuna swims as fast as she can upwards until finally she rips through the surface and finds herself inhaling fresh air once more.

"Maybe I shouldn't call," Yuna slowly starts to swim back to the shore as she talks to herself some more. "I've whistled so many times already, but the only thing that answers is… silence."

Eventually Yuna reaches the shores of Besaid. As her body emerges from the water, Yuna can feel the cool breeze of the night time wind brushing through her bare flesh. Besaid has always been known for its' beautiful weather so she never has problems in regards to that. As a matter of fact Yuna loves the feeling of nights like these when the moon can be seen in the surface of the water. Yuna is also fond of how the wind can take her tail in its' strength and at the same time blow the rest of her hair in the direction of its' path. Yuna enjoys the way sand feels on her bare feet as the small waves wash them off as she stands there watching the sky, listening to the wind and the water, and of course as she thinks of Tidus.

In fact in it's not the weather or Besaid that might give her a feeling of gloom, it's the thought that she thinks somehow or some way, Tidus may still be alive, which is of course why she whistles every night. But everytime she calls the result seems to be the same which brings her to believe she is carrying another false hope.

"Here goes nothing."

Taking her left index finger and thumb and placing it in both sides of her mouth, Yuna blows as hard as she can omitting a very high pitched sound. She remembers the first time she tried this when Tidus was teaching her. Of course it didn't come out as loud as it does now. She had a lot of time to practice. This isn't the first time she's attempted to try and summon him hoping he would come. And just like before, the result is the same. No one and Nothing would come out.

"Why do I bother when I know he will never come... anymore? No one can hear me."

Yuna comes here at least once a week to enjoy the waters and spend time for herself and every time it ends up the same way. Her false hope is confirmed to be nothing more than that, a false hope. With nothing else to keep her here, Yuna turns her attention away from the beautiful view and starts walking towards her clothes so she can make her way back to the Celsius.

"Everything can hear you," A female voice breaks the silence. "Even those who dream and those who are made from imagination can hear you."

Yuna quickly turns her attention towards the direction of the voice which is behind her. In her mind, Yuna thought she's hearing things but the moment she has her full vision was behind her, she can't believe what she is seeing.

"Good evening, Lady Yuna."

Angels are folklore of Spira. They are beings well known by all religous factions as guardians, defenders, warriors of some sort. Some may claim them as some of the most sacred of all Aeons. Whatever people would consider them, Angels have always been myths and/or legends, until now. Levitating a few inches from the waters is a beautiful woman with a glowing pair of wings.

"You're... an Angel!"

As a response to Yuna's astonishment, the Angel nods while her pink, petite lips releases a smile. Even without her radiant glow, Yuna can definetly see that she has the visage of the heavens above. With the long black hair that is pony tailed behind her, it definetly compliments her lightly tinted skin. Her round face is elegantly framed with the the way her hair is draping through the wind while her glowing silver wings remains as still as her posture. She has a very slant pair of golden eyes with long eyelashes that are highlighted real well by her thin yet visible eyebrows. The eyes that are as bright as the sun does not leave Yuna even as she examines the winged woman in the waters. Her clothing resembles that of what a kimono would be tailored with the sleeveless red top with the left over right flaps that makes a 'y' like shape right in front of her chest. Since she has no sleeves but her wrists all the way to her elbows are covered with black clothing that hangs very similar to Yuna's own sleeves when she wore her summoner outfit during her pilgrimage. They seem to have some reddish floral designs that pervades all around the tunic. To match the oriential style, the Angel dons black hakame bottoms with also matching red floral designs similar to the ones on her arm sleeves. Her theme seems to revolve around the colors of red and black because even ger boots are black with red laces. Even her necklace that has a very dark silver as a chain and a 'star' shaped cross has a ruby red rock in the middle of it.

"Some would call me that," Her voice is as soothing as her beauty to Yuna's ears. "But I am also known as an 'Eternal'."

"Eternal?"

"My name however is Kamea."

Kamea clasps her hands in front of her and gives a short bow as a formality of introduction.

"You know me by name as I can see," Yuna reciprocates the jesture by bowing back. "And what do I owe this honor for your visit, Kamea?"

"I am here to follow someone."

"Who might that be?"

"Someone very similar to the one you whistle for, Lady Yuna."

As if Yuna wasn't confused by Kamea's arrival, her words also bring forth some new point of interest. Taking a step forward, Yuna can feel the water going up to her ankles as she walks closer to the body of the water.

"What do you mean by that? And how do you know about the one I'm searching for?"

"The man I am following is a man tormented by the nightmares of humanity," Yuna has the urge to say something since Kamea blatantly ignored her question, but of course she doesn't since it's not her character to be rude. "He is travelling world to world to try and redeem the sins that men have put on his shoulders."

"The sins that men put on his shoulders?"

"My world is full of imperfections."

Yuna's thoughts starts to rush through all the events that has transpired through her pilgrimage.

"With all due respect, Kamea, Spira isn't exactly free of sin itself. Why would a holy host from above choose to steer herself here for redemption?"

"Lady Yuna," Kamea's voice fluctuation hinted that there was a bit of amusement behind it. "Redemption cannot be attained in a perfect world for there is no such thing. Besides, what better world to learn than a place trying to recover from its' own Sin?"

Yuna wants to respond, but words wouldn't come out. The only thing that keeps flowing through her mind are the memories when Tidus was with her to the moment of his disappearance. There is not a day when she doesn't think of him for the last year or so, but for some reason, the appearance of Kamea is making her emotions stronger.

"On that same note, I must warn you," A sudden change of tone insisted that Kamea's next word is essential for Yuna to hear. "Along with his arrival, demons will also penetrate your world."

"Demons?"

"But do not be afraid," Kamea's wings extends behind her letting some of her feathers flutter off. "Seek him, and he will know what must be done."

"Wait," From the way her wings are positioned, Yuna can tell that Kamea is about to take flight. There's a lot more things that Yuna has to know since her curiosity and concern was sparked by the words the two traded with each other. "You can't leave yet! When and where is this person coming?! And why are demons pouring into Spira?!"

Kamea says nothing as her wings take a strong flap in unison which levitates her higher. The water that surrounds them responds by creating more mini waves along with a small gust of wind. Yuna takes a few more steps forward fighting against the strong wind that's being created from Kamea's wings. The Angel lets off a small smile as she nods her head towards Yuna.

"You can't go! Wait!"

"Do not give up. And do not worry about tomorrow," It doesn't take long until Kamea is finally a few feet from reach. However her voice lingers like a melody as she continues to ascend up. "Love Is Eternal. And so are dreams."

And with those words, Kamea surrounds herself in a ray of light that shines even brighter than the moon itself. Yuna has to cover her eyes since the glare is too much for her eyes to take. Using her hands to shield her vision, Yuna calls Kamea's name one last time to try and signal her to stop. But in a mere second, a bright light flares up the night and then as soon as it lit up, it disappears into the darkness leaving the night with its' natural moonlight. Yuna finds herself standing in the middle of Besaid beach with the water all the way up to her knees. If Kamea would've stayed, Yuna would probably be standing in front of her right now with a mere few inches to separate them, however she has disappeared to wherever which leaves Yuna in confusion.

"Dreams… are Eternal?"

She isn't exactly sure if Kamea's speaking directly about the situation with Tidus, but the way the words were bent seemed like it was. More thoughts to deal with in this interesting night. Yuna is now looking at her reflection in the water when all of a sudden she sees some sort of shadow in it looming behind her. Alarmed from the thought and at the fact that she doesn't know exactly know for sure what is going on, Yuna flips away from where she's standing and lands a few feet to the left. To add to her confusion, Yuna finds that there is no one there. The ripples of the water from her sudden movement is the only thing that seems out of the norm. Then there's a gleam of light darting horizontaly across the sky. From this far it seems like a shooting star travelling in it's regular path. But anyone knows that a shooting star only lasts a few seconds or so, this one however keeps perpetuating. As it shoots pass Yuna's vision and to the opposite side from where it started, the linear line starts to arc down as if it's going to land somewhere. Then as it swoops down and disappears in the distance, Yuna realizes the most logical place its' going to land.

"Rikku!"

Quickly running back towards the shores where her clothes are, Yuna knows that she has to move fast. The Celsius can pick her up in less than five minutes, however the Thunder Plains can be reached in about twenty minutes. With Kamea's words still ringing in her head, Yuna can't be sure if her cousin is going to be too safe camping in Thunder Plains, so she has to make sure. If there's anything Yuna knows about demon folklore is that they are dangerous and relentless in their ways so if the shooting star is any more than what it is, Rikku is going to need all the help she can get. As a matter of fact, Spira is going to need all the help it can get if demons do invade their world. With all the things going through her head, Yuna can't help but think that The Eternal Calm is due for a real test in the next few days, weeks, or depends how far it gets, it may last longer. Yuna can only hope for the best.


	3. Chapter 3: Fears and Fallen

_**Chapter Three: Fears and Fallen**_

The Thunder Plains. The one place that Rikku hates the most out of all of Spira because of the fact that she has a phobia towards thunder and since Thunder Plains is exactly what its' name implies, one can pretty much accumulate why she hates the place so. Yet despite all that, she finds herself camping out on this desolate and thunder oriented land all by herself. Every second she cringes or shrieks because there would be a loud bellowing sound that follows the white flash of light.

"Eek!" Rikku closes her eyes tight as she hides her head beneath her arms. She rolls herself up tight like a ball, letting her knees touch her chest as she sits down trying to somehow evade the inevitable lightning . "Oh Poopie! I keep asking myself why am I doing this again?!"

It was more a rhetoric question than anything else. Rikku knows exactly why she's here in the Thunder Plains. It was because of a mission Brother sent her and Paine to retrieve a sphere that was located in the old Battle Arena in Calm Lands. Since no human being has ever decided to set foot in it after the defeat of Sin, the fiends took over making the place a very dangerous area filled with the most random of battles one can only hope to not run into.

"_So do you ever talk?" _

Rikku can still remember their conversation right before they took their first few steps into the dungeon which pretty much consisted of her talking the most.

"_I mean we've been running around for the last hour or so and you've barely said anything. In fact, you've pretty much said nothing," _Rikku scratches her head as they stand in front of Battle Arena._ "It's kinda boring don't you think?"_

Paine kept her eyes locked to the entrance of the dungeon as if she was contemplating something. Of course Rikku kept trying to pull a conversation out of her as she continuously kept jabbering on. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Paine turned her attention to Rikku with a very stern look on her face.

"_Do you want the fiends to catch us here now, or in there?" _It was probably the first few words that Rikku heard Paine say the whole time. _"You keep flapping your mouth, Rikku, and every fiend in the Calm Lands is going to hear you and come after us pretty damn soon."_

Rikku wanted to respond, but for some reason, she wasn't really able to say anything because Paine didn't hesitate to run inside the dungeon. Feeling a bit left out, Rikku sagged her shoulders, letting her arms hang uselessly as she realizes that she pretty much has no other options but to dash inside herself. This is a mission, and of course she has to watch Paine's back.

"_Dnum um poccmnud!!" _She stomped her foot on the ground as she takes her daggers out. _"Why do I get stuck with Ms. Paine in the $$ and Brother can just sit down in his nice comfy chair pretending he's actually doing something?!"_

Rikku only speaks al bhed when she isn't exactly in the best mood. She's known Paine for a little while however progress with their rapport is slow. They have fought side by side on more than one occasion because they are the only ones with the Gullwings who are used to melee and had experience dealing with more than one fiends in the past. Yuna only joined recently and she's still getting use to her new lifestyle. To secure her safety, Brother hasn't let Yuna out on missions as muchyet because he didn't want her to go out until she is completely trained on everything about being a sphere hunter. Knowing that he is highly infatuated of Yuna the first time he ever laid his eyes on her, Rikku can only wonder if Brother has some alternative motives behind this about getting close to Yuna.

"_Fiends coming your way!"_

Rikku had barely passed the door of the entrance and Paine had already encountered fiends. From the sounds of beastly screeching can only mean that Paine was taking care of business. Not to mention Rikku was able to spot the light that emanated from the fiends that were dying. Sooner than she expected though, Rikku found herself dealing with her own random battle. It was one of the wolf like fiends that one would find everywhere in Spira. This one was the reddish, purple like wolf that was as ferocious as any other fiend so with both daggers tight in her hands, Rikku shifted her right leg back and positioned her hands so that her left dagger would be low and her other one cocked up high ready to strike. The fiend wasted no time as it dashed towards Rikku's direction with its' fangs drawn out for blood. The young Al Bhed reacted accordingly and jumped up into the air, clearing the fiend by a few inches and as she landed, she immediately twisted in the air and threw the one on her right hand to the its' back. The sharp blade piercing itself deep which caused the fiend to yelp in pain and then deteriorate into the greenish like light. Another fiend took advantage and lunged at Rikku as well, having the same attack pattern the other one did by pouncing straight towards Rikku with its' jaws open wide for a good bite. With only one dagger, Rikku flipped backwards a few times until she was able to retrieve her other one which was just lying on the ground where the last fiend fell. Little did Rikku know that there was another fiend not too far from where she is and the moment she laid her hands on her dagger, this one attacked as well. Rikku had no time to dodge this fiend so she merely just dodged out of its' range and while she was crouched underneath the fiend, she stabs one of her daggers into the midsection and allowed its' momentum to pull itself away from its' wound. The fiend wasn't even able to catch itself on its' four legs as it died on impact. The other one stood snarling at Rikku as the young Al Bhed had her full attention on it.

"_You know what's going to happen if you attack," _Rikku knew it didn't understand what she's saying, but talking to a fiend had always been a habit she had during battles. _"But that's not gonna stop you, huh?"_

And Rikku was right in her accusations. The fiend growled as it dashed forward. With a smirk in her lips, Rikku pushed herself forward to the same linear direction the fiend is travelling. When they were both in range, Rikku swung her right arm in an upward arcing motion, letting the sharp blade cut vertically through the fiend. With her momentum still going, Rikku slashed her other dagger in a horizontal direction, letting the fiend take another slice before it fades away to its' defeat.

"_Boo Ya!" _

Rikku jumps up in the air, throwing her left hand up high. The last fiend she eradicated was nothing more than pyreflies.

_"Gotta move and make sure Paine's okay."_

Still keeping her daggers unsheathed Rikku ran to Paine's direction as fast as her legs would allow. Her scarf was blowing in the wind almost like it was leaving a trail. Along the way Rikku had to go through some fiends, which were mostly wolves and they barely gave her problems. Then a drake came to block her path and Rikku knew that it wasn't going to be easy. There are many drakes known in Spira, and all of them have the capability to tear someone apart easily unless of course the drake's victim knows a little thing or two about fighting. Rikku remembered tackling a few of them during Yuna's pilgrimage and if her memory served her right, they can create quite a bit of damage. Rikku had to fight this battle in a very different route. As the drake growled and paced itself slowly in a circular fashion, Rikku kept the grip on her daggers tight while her eyes never once left it. It took a few steps forward so Rikku closed her center line by putting her right leg back. Then as it took a couple more steps in a more hastely manner, Rikku knew that the beast was going to attack. And she was right.

Although the reptilian fiends are heavily armored with it's scales and massive in size, they do not lack speed. As it galloped on all four, it picked up tremendous speed which gave Rikku very little space for mistakes. It was going to use its momentum and weight to trample the young Al Bhed over, but Rikku timed it so that she would step forward with her right leg to the side and out of its range but without completely taking away the advantage of being able to strike back. Because she was still in hand range, Rikku uses the circular blade that's part of the handle and slashed it across the side of the drake's neck the moment it passed her. Using that same moment, Rikku turned her hips in a circular motion towards the beast so that her right blade would cut around the same area. The fiend growled in pain and before it had the chance to retaliate, Rikku jumped back and just in time because it took a bite at her direction. With another opportunity for damage, Rikku took another swing at its head, allowing her blade to cut through the scales.

_"Shit! Gotta move!"_

Rikku took heed of her own thought and backflipped away. Before she was able to land, the fiend lunged again, snapping with its razor sharp teeth at her. Reacting as fast as she could after she landed, Rikku shifted her body sideways so her center line would be as narrow as possible making her a harder target. With the fraction of a second she had, the drake missed her but not completely. The fiend was able to gash a bit of her abdomen, broke the skin, and drew blood. Rikku felt the sting of some of its sharp fangs piercing through, but she paid very little attention to it because she took the opportunity to stab it in the head with both daggers letting the sharp blades puncture through the nape of its long neck. It let off a screeching roar as a sign of agony.

"_Thyb tiet emmnyci!"_

Rikku yelled it in Al Bhed hoping that it would die as she kept pushing her daggers through. Unfortunately as Rikku knew, large fiends such as the drakes don't drop dead as fast as one would hope. With one sudden jerk of its body, the fiend hoisted Rikku off the ground which caused her to yelp in shock. Because she still had a tight grip on her daggers, Rikku almost had a dislocation on both of her shoulder sockets from the sudden movement. Luckily she was able to go with the flow which pretty much gave her no option but to be flung around in the air. Of course the only thing she was able to do was redirect her momentum to catch herself. Since her daggers are still deep inside the fiend's skin, she was able to use that as her fulcrum so she was able to land behind the beast's back heels first into it's spine. Now it almost seemed like she was riding the drake while standing up.

_"Alright, buster!" _While it kept screeching from the pain, Rikku thrusted her left leg into the back of its neck while at the same time she forced her left dagger out. _"I'm gonna wack you good!"_

Cocking her left arm up for more power, Rikku immediately stabbed the fiend around the same spot it she plunged it earlier. Of course the next time it delved deeper and inflicted more pain. As it roared in agony, Rikku didn't let off as she stabbed the fiend over and over again until finally it dropped on all four knees. It of course thrashed about while letting off growls of pain. With it subdued, Rikku stabbed the dagger one last time and left it there as she flipped off it and landed in front of it.

_"Now," _Rikku positioned her arms so that they would be on opposite sides of her body, almost like she was hugging herself. _"You look like you would be good well done not rare!"_

While she kept her feet shoulder to shoulder width apart from each other, a purplish aura started to emanate from underneath and surrounded her. The energy then transferred to both her palms in a fiery glow. During this process, Rikku shook her hips side to side just because she loves to make use of her feminine attributes as one can tell. The fiend on the other hand was still suffering from the multiple stabs and the fact that Rikku still had her daggers stabbed on its back which caused a whole lot of bleeding. It tried to get up but it received a little too much open wounds so it wasn't going to get up any time soon. This gave Rikku enough time to accumulate enough fire magic to deliver the final blow.

_"FIRE!!!"_

Rikku lifted her right leg up which made her stand on one leg like a crane at the same time she positioned her left hand in the air while her right hand was pointing at the fiend. All the energy she accumulated then shifted through her body and to her right index finger which was directed straight to her daggers. Not only are Rikku's daggers weapons for close range combat but they can act as a conduit for elemental damage like how she is using them against the drake. With the enchanted metal absorbing the fire, the fiend took all the damage Rikku's intention was trying to accomplish. It only took mere seconds until the fire covered the fiend. As it was engulfed in the spell, the drake screamed in pain as it dropped on its side and the pyreflies started to take form. Soon enough the fiend vanished leaving Rikku's daggers behind.

_"Whew!"_

Rikku was relieved that the fiend fell when it finally did. She wasn't too fond of the thought of wrestling with it some more considering she spent some time dealing with it already. Not to mention that the wound she recieved from the battle started to take effect. Rikku's blood had already started to stain her skirt and down to her legs from the deep horizontal cut that the drake's fang caused. After she retrieved and sheathed her daggers, Rikku used her left arm to brace the injury so she wouldn't lose so much blood. The white ribbon like fabric started to turn dark red. But of course the Battle Arena is filled with fiends and rest was never an option. Soon more of them arrived from the corner of the next wall. And to Rikku's disdain, another drake came. This one was a different breed however. It was the aggressive version with the wing like ears, the more greenish tint, and along with the sharper and longer fangs came flames emanating from its mouth which made the situation a lot more intimidating.

_"Shit," _Her words quivered from distress. _"This is not happening."_

Of course Rikku knew better than to give in to stress and pain so she quickly unsheathed her daggers again and prepared for another fight. But things didn't seem to go to her favor one bit because in the corner of her eye, Rikku noticed another fiend floating at her direction. Not just any fiend, this one was a gold element. The ones who can throw thunder for its main attack.

_"Oh no..." _With her daggers still held tight, Rikku sagged her shoulders letting her arms hang low. _"Why me?"_

Her wound was still open fresh while the rest of her body wasn't exactly 100% from the battles she had endured in the mission. Rikku had fought many battles, however she had rarely found herself in these kinds of situations where the odds are stacked way too high. Rikku was more the back up, agile, and thief of the party. She doesn't do as well as a solo fighter. Although Rikku has gone toe to toe with tremendous odds and have lived to fight another day, but this one was looking bleak. She had also received worse injuries in a fight, but the thought of the element thunder inside closed quarters was making the situation a thousand times worse than what it was. But she knew what had to be done. Taking her attention at the drake, Rikku dashed to its' direction with tremendous speed. The fiend snarled at her coming. When she gained the proper reach, she jumps high in the air and cocked her right arm back, getting ready to cut through the fiend. But the gold element threw a thunder spell in front of Rikku which barely missed her. Although she wasn't struck down, the flash of light and the bellowing sound that followed after completely threw her off. Losing balance in mid air, Rikku landed off which made her lose her stance and fell right on her butt. While she was busy minding her current pain, the drake wasted no time and spun around using it's tail like bat towards Rikku. Shocked, in pain, and completely unprepared, Rikku caught the full force of it's velocity. Weighing so little in comparison to the drake and not to mention the tail had plenty of momentum, Rikku found herself flung across the Battle Arena until she crashed on a wall painfully. Hitting the floor with a hard impact didn't help much at all either because it added more insult to the injuries she received. Her whole body was throbbing with aches and possibly broken bones. Nothing a few potions can't fix but as she eased her right arm towards one of the pouches of her skirt, she realized from the unbearable pain that her arm is heavily damaged from the impact on the wall. Taking note that she had very similar tremendous pain all over her left ribs, the one hit by the drake's tail, she realized that a few bones are broken. Realizing that her left arm had to act, the gold element was hovering not too far away from her. From the looks of the way it was glowing, it was going to finish her off with another thunder spell. She had to try, but the way the element was moving in its weird fashion, it was obvious that the spell was coming sooner than she could've pulled the potion out. Fighting was also out of the question because she dropped her daggers during the impact of the fiend hitting her with its tremendous tail.

_"I hope I see you again..."_

Those were the main words floating about in her head while the thoughts of her last breaths on Spira started to settle in. They say your whole life flashes by before death comes knocking in, well Rikku couldn't help but think about all the events that has transpired in her life, good and bad. Of course a lot of her memories are filled with Yuna's pilgrimage and of course of him, Tidus and very brief images of her fellow Al Bhed, Gippal. But then someone else came into her thoughts. A man clad in black with the red eyes that she saw a few months ago.

_"Who... are... you?" _

She must've said it out loud because someone responded and brought her back to consciousness. It was a female voice.

_"Rikku!"_

Rikku immediately recognized the voice as Paine's. Her call was followed by a water spell that hit the gold element and vaporized it to pyreflies. The immediate danger was out of the way but the drake still lingered and it took its attention towards the direction where Paine was emerging from. With relief starting to overcome her along with the pain, Rikku had limited movement available so she was only able to turn her head a little bit towards her rescuer. But for some reason, things weren't exactly as cohesive as Rikku was hoping for because although she hears Paine's voice, her vision was seeing someone completely different. Fighting the green drake off was a man clad in all black. Rikku couldn't get a clear view of his face because he was moving around too much but Rikku was sure he was the same man she saw in the reflection when she first met Paine and the same man she saw in her images mere moments ago. It was him she was seeing in the fight but she was sure it was Paine because of the voice and the skull sword the person was wielding. Soon enough Rikku lost all grip of consciousness and found herself drifting from hallucination and reality. One moment it would be the man, the next blink it would be Paine. Eventually the battle was over, which she didn't see end, but she heard a death blow and a screeching sound which indicated the death of the drake. Not too long after she could hear Paine close to her as she was contacting Brother and informing their situation. The next moment she remembered was being lifted from her position and being carried out of the Arena. She was able to open her eyes but she was still drifting between consciousness and unconsciousness because she was seeing a blurry image of the man with red eyes carrying her. She remembered feeling the cool air of the Calm Lands and hearing Celsius from the distant skies. But eventually she fell into her fatigue and was asleep before she knew it.

When Rikku came to the next time around, she found herself in Celsius' medical area where she had a cast on her right arm and a few wraps around her ribs. She had a few more bumps and bruises, but her ribs and arm was probably the most critical ones. Of course she had a lot Al Bhed medical utilities surrounding her as she laid in her bed in medical clothing. Her first reaction was to sit up, but the moment her head even slightly leave her pillow, her head started to hurt like someone was hammering her head with multiple nails. Needless to say she ended up lying back down. She couldn't help but stare at the tall ceilings above her that are filled with Al Bhed designs along with a ceiling fan. She would've stared forever, but she heard familiar voices down stairs by the bar.

_"The next few potions are coming soon,"_ That was Yuna's voice. _"Brother and Shinra should be back soon. I've done what I can with white magic."_

_"She shouldn't have gotten those injuries."_

That was Paine speaking next.

_"What do you mean by that? It was a mission! Besides you left her behind!"_

"_She fought Seymour and Sin, I would assume that she was going to be able to take care of a few fiends by herself."_

"_That doesn't justify you abandoning your teammate!"_

Rikku has heard Yuna yell before but she hasn't heard her raise her voice like that in a while. Of course all the loud noises was making her head ring even more.

"_She was doing fine until she ran across that damn element that made her lose her control," _Paine wasn't really yelling like Yuna was, but her voice had a deep but stern ring to it that it carried itself pretty loud. _"But it doesn't help that all of you are allowing her to act like a kid. She needs to grow up and act her age! And she also needs to realize that sometimes, no one's going to be there to help out! Sometimes the only person you can rely on is yourself!"_

Yuna and Paine went on for a little while back and forth. It's not because they are cousins that Yuna defends Rikku till the end, it's part of it, but it is definitely Yuna's habit to defend anyone to the end. Rikku appreciates it, but somewhere along the words Paine let off she had a bit of an epiphany. Rikku knew that her demeanor has always been childish. It has always been part of who she is, but lately she's had a need for change. Paine's words definitely struck her throughout the two days she was bed ridden. When she was finally better, she decided in her head that she was going to get over her fears. Packing up materials and essentials that'll last a week, Rikku heads to the place that is filled with her worse fears which is the Thunder Plains. Of course Yuna and her traded words and Yuna offered to camp with her for a week, however Rikku knew it was something she had to do on her own. That is how she found herself here in the Thunder Plains. It's been a day since she arrived and of course she has gotten nothing but thunder and lightning. As she finds herself curled up like a ball, frightened, and terrified every time lightning hits, Rikku can't seem to see herself getting over her fear any time soon.

"I really can't believe this!"Of course Rikku finds herself constantly having a conversation with herself. "I was there when Spira almost fell apart at the hands of SIN. I stood my ground and stayed strong but I can't seem to get pass this hurdle! I wish..."

Rikku wanted to finish her sentence. She wanted to wish for someone that Yuna had, a guardian to teach strength and perseverance even in the darkest night. In fact she was planning on finishing her sentence, until something steered her thoughts away from the subject. A bright light flashed from above which flared the whole Thunder Plain for a moment and is now moving at a tremendous speed towards her direction. At first Rikku thought it was a shooting star, but shooting stars are usually far away and it only lasts a few moments. This one doesn't look like it's going to disappear any time soon as it keeps moving and eventually it starts to arc down as if it's going to land.

"That's not a star,"Rikku stands up and keeps her eyes on it as it declines even more in a downward motion. "Stars aren't that close... and it looks like it's going to land here."

Grabbing her daggers and sheathing it behind her, Rikku takes a deep breath and runs after the light which is looking like it's about to hit solid ground.

"I don't know what the hell is going on,"Rikku keeps running. Whether she's driven by curiosity, concern, or something else she can't explain, she keeps chasing the falling light. "But this better not ruin our Eternal Calm!"

Rikku may not know for sure what she's going to do once she finds out what this falling star is about, but she does know one thing, she wants the hard work that Yuna and all her guardians will be preserved. So races as fast as she can towards the direction of the light. Her scarf blowing in the wind behind her like it was her cape of some sort. Of course she can't help but wince at every thunderous blow from the sky, but for some reason, she isn't slowed down at all by her astraphobia.

Somewhere else….

The stage of consciousness is very vague. One can't define or predict exactly when or how he falls asleep or wake up. Dreams and reality will always be a constant enigma to those who enter and leave that state of self. But one can always wonder just like how he is doing now. Everything around him is hot, almost to the point where things are burning. He doesn't know why but opening his eyes is such a struggle. Fighting through it, eventually he manages to open them but not after going through a surge of energy through his body. Of course before he gets a clear vision, he has to go through blurry images of random things of wherever he is. When finally everything clears up, he finds himself standing in a very dark and desolate place. To match the very bleak environment he sees, the sound of the sky crying out thunder echoes throughout the empty barren land. From as far as his eyes would let him, all he can see are the same rhetoric patterns of dry land and rocks. The few things that sticks out to him are the tall towers that seems to be some sort of mechanical device for it is obvious that is not a natural creation. It seems to attract lightning as well for the weird formation of it on their top structure seems to be sharp and made out of some metal that would absorb as much of the lightning that would crash down. One can imagine what destruction it might make if it comes down on the ground. Now that he things about it, with his surroundings seems to be hazy with smoke and the ground he stands on seems to have a crater of some sort, he wonders if was struck by lightning. He grasps his head to take heed of a headache that is unmatched. As he starts to skim through his mind, he realizes that he doesn't seem to know anything.

"Where am I?"

Is the first question that comes to his mind and then the sudden cold realization that he doesn't even know his own name. Suddenly, the thought of not knowing where you are is overcome by the lack of knowledge of one's identity. As he buries his head inside his right palm, a few images flashes through his mind of very sporadic faces and places of what his past and present may be made of. One thing is certain, none of them are familiar to him. He quickly drops to his knees as the stammering headache seems to have taken all his energy and attention. He can't help but surrender his body to the pain that seems to be internal and caused by the constant phases of memories that may be or may not be his. It's like someone is flipping the pages of a book real fast for the images come and go before he can pin them down. As it perpetuates even longer, he lets off a scream that most likely echoed throughout the land. If anyone is near, his voice would have carried over the lightning that was constantly barraging the land. But as soon as he lets off the last of his voice from the yell, miraculously the pain and the images ceased to haunt him and he is left with nothing but an echo, lightning, and the foreign land he found himself in.

"What the hell was that about?"

Still confused and completely lost, he slowly stands back up to his feet hoping that if he starts to walk, there would be something that'll help jar his memory.

Not too long ago...

Rikku has been running for some time now. The star that she's been following isn't too far away from impact and eventually it lands. Stopping on her tracks, Rikku braces herself for the impact. Buckling her knees and covering her face with her arms, the force from the star literally covers her in a cloud of smoke. From another point of view, Rikku may have seem to have disappeared behind all the chaos. It took a few minutes or so until the aftermath of the collision ended. The ground stops shaking and the smoke evaporates leaving Rikku standing amidst the chaos. From where she is, the location of the crash isn't too far away. It landed near the last thunder towers right before the the Al Bhed inn. Rikku can only wonder if the people at the inn is affected by the crash. So she keeps running towards that direction until something causes her to stop completely. There's a figure straight ahead blocking her way. Taking a few cautious steps, Rikku walks towards the person.

"Hello? Are you okay?"

A harder drop of lightning comes down which made Rikku flinch. When she regained composure, the shadow was no longer there. Instead she notices a presence not too far away from her left.

"So this is Spira." A melancholy voice. "This is the world after mine..."

Rikku catches the glow in his bright green eyes. It's an unnatural glow that almost gave Rikku a cold chill.

"Who are you?"

Rikku is very reluctant of his presence since he is releasing a very eerie vibe. Along with that, Rikku can sense some malice within him.

"Aaahh..." A male voice. The man walks forward and Rikku is able to see that he has long hair. "You are a familiar one."

A lightning struck again which allows Rikku to get a clearer look at his face. It's a clear and very sharp formed face with a beautiful light tone. He has a very distinct eyes which is properly matched the aesthetic glow of his long silver hair. He smirks and takes a step forward. When he did, Rikku is able to spot a long sword in his right hand. She steps back and was about to grab her daggers when a scream louder than the lightning caught all of Rikku's attention.

"His arrival will make the skies fall. Supernova..."

Rikku turns to the man's direction to find no one there. Only the remenants of his voice lingers to prove that he was there.

"Supernova?" Rikku knows she heard that somewhere before. "The Final Seven..."

Spira has had many secrets hidden among its land. Of course for a long while only Al Bhed and corrupted Yevon Maesters knew of such historic events through the discovery of machina cities. Each different civilization they found so far always mentioned about the times of 'Finals'. These are supposedly times that existed before Spira. With everything thats happening at this moment, Rikku has no time for history and so she heads towards the crash site. In the back of her mind the thought of what the man said about the 'supernova' still boggles her.

When Rikku arrives at the designated crash site, everything is a wreck. The lightning tower barely made it safe and if the 'star' would've flown any farther, the Al Bhed inn would've been thrashed. Luckily it didn't. All the Al Bheds and the current clients staying there are peeking up and about astonished and flustered by the crash. They themselves are curious at what exactly landed. Rikku pushes through the small crowd trying to get to the crater that was made.

"Move it! Excuse me!"

She eventually managed to go through and she finds herself standing where the 'star' first hit and then the long trail it made that is still covered with smoke which makes it obscure to see anything ahead. As Rikku takes the first step, she hears a familiar voice behind calling her.

"Rikku!"

It was another Al Bhed that Rikku knew through her father. As she turns around, she quickly recognizes the dark tone in his complexion, the bright yellow shirt and of course the weird Al Bhed attire.

"Rin!"

Rikku and the others encountered this entrepeneur Al Bhed many times through the pilgrimage. He was in fact responsible in aiding them with items and materials even when Yuna was considered a heretic. Rikku considers this man as a trust worthy ally with high prestige among the Al Bheds. After all his inns and shops are famous across Spira.

"Hey is everyone alright in your inn?"

"Yes, Rikku everything is fine, but I sent people in there to investigate but they haven't come back."

"How long ago?"

"Long enough to know that this situation is no good."

Rikku sighs and starts walking towards the misty area.

"Wait, Rikku. Buddy called to let me know they are on their way. Can't you wait?"

"No time, Rin!"

Rin must've said something else but she heads straight inside the mist. Her heart pounding from the thought of uncertainty of what could be out there. After coming across the strange man with the long silver hair and the glowing green eyes along with the words he said, Rikku can only expect the worse. Her hands ready to grab her daggers in case it comes to that.

_A few moments ago..._

He's only taken a few steps forward until he starts feeling a strange sesation in his head again. Trying to ignore it did no good because he finds himself struggling to keep his composure. Of course they are all unrecognizable images, but a man in all black with a long sword came to his head. He has glowing green eyes and he points the sharp end towards him.

_"It's going to be over soon, Lucifer."_

The words echo in his mind along with the name: Lucifer.

"Is that my name?"

He would've spent more time contemplating about the thought until he starts hearing voices not too far away. Shadows are the only thing that he can see through the smoke and from that he is able to make out at least two people.

"Hello?!" He calls.

"Yfih nihi!"

The response were foreign words which he didn't understand. So he walks towards the strangers uncertain of what exactly to expect. But he needs help regardless of the situation. When he gets closer to get a clearer look, he can't help but hesitate because not only does their clothes seem a bit weird, but the two of them are both holding some sort of rifle in their hands. However it's a little too late to step back. Now that he is exposed, he has no choice but to follow through.

"I need help..." He asks.

"Mdea znihi ayi!"

One of them responds but it was the same language that he doesn't understand. He can only give the same confused response but since he can understand what the guns meant, he raises his arms high so his hands would be at face level, showing open palms that he has nothing that would cause any sort of danger or threat. The two strangers seems to react accordingly to his gesture but they cautiously approach him still, the rifles held with both hands and the barrel with a blade at the end is close to be pointed at his direction. Of course when you are completely unsure of what is going on and you have people in front of you with firearms, things starts to happen with intense thought process. Adrenaline starts to rush in and take over as every step they take gets them closer and closer to him. He doesn't know why but all he keeps thinking about is the gun and how every second, their advantage starts to fade, and not a second later when they are in hand range, he immediately acts with a quick kick to the one closer to his right with his heel on the person's knee. A split second right after, he grabs the barrel of the rifle from the person's hand and since the man with the gun is busy dealing with the pain of his knee buckling, grabbing the gun out of his grasp is easier than normal. Using the pulling momentum, the butt of the gun hits its' former holder right in the chin quickly knocking him back. His companion quickly retaliates but by then the rifle was in another person's hand and he uses the same strike, but circular and horizontal to hit his companion right in the side of his jaw quickly knocking him unconscious in a matter of moments. With the other gunman still preoccupied with the butt of the gun going upwards against his jaw, he quickly finishes him off by lunging forward and ramming the same end of the gun into the gunman's abdomen. With the amount of force he pushed through him, the gunman coughs for air and drops on the ground unconscious. With that last action, he drops the gun and takes a step back. Another lightning strikes and he finds himself standing alone hands and the two strangers laid out in front of him. His eyes wide open and he still can't believe what he just accomplished mere moments ago.

"What the hell?" He looks at his bare hands. "I was able to do this?"

Just when he thought he had some time to evaluate the situation, he hears something not too far. He quickly recognizes the sound as footsteps, light weight, fast, and coming his way.

"Here we go again."

He sighs to himself as he starts to realize that this might be another fight in his hands. The probability is pretty high since he is standing within a few inches of the unconscious bodies of natives to this world. Anyone who has some association with these people will probably consider him as a threat.

"Erapyta dnihi?!"

The voice from what he can make out is a young female. Judging by the figure he can make out through the fog, it definitely matched the voice that just echoed. He stands there firm and ready, and every few seconds she gets closer. When she stepped into sight range, he can't believe his eyes, a young girl, a beautiful one with spiral green eyes stands a few feet away from him. She stops abruptly when she sees him and the gunmen that are laid out unconscious around him.

"Zned dni dicc?!"

One doesn't need a translator to know exactly what her words are. With her hands reaching behind her and unsheathing some sort of red tinted blade, she takes one foot and puts it behind her while her weapons ready to strike. Her eyes are glaring right at him and her expression is nothing less than angry. Another lightning strikes and he knows for a fact that there is no escaping this situation. He has to fight again, which once again astonishes him because he doesn't know how exactly to go about this. All he knows is that when this girl makes her move, things are going to be ugly.

"Take her, she is yours, Lucifer." The same voice echoes in his head again.


	4. Chapter 4: Informal Salutations

**_Chapter Four -Informal Salutations_**

The voice has called him Lucifer. The name is familiar to him, so as far as he knows, his name is Lucifer. Finding out some name to go by could be considered a victory because of all the things that has gone wrong with him already. He sighs as he catches a sight of this new predicament.

"What the hell?"

To Rikku, this situation is more than just serious, but if she had to call it something, this is definitely disasteriffic. Although Rikku doesn't know the two Al Bhed gunmen personally, she doesn't like the idea of her own race being attacked especially if they are innocent in the grand scheme of things. She may not know the stranger in front of her, but she does know one thing, he doesn't look so friendly. He has a very stern look in his face and yet at the same time he looks very confused. His eyes are locked on Rikku as he stands there with his hands at his sides. They seem to be glowing in a reddish tint that can be seen easily through the darkness that surrounds them. Rikku grips her daggers tighter.

"Who are you?!" She decided to speak outside of her Al Bhed tongue.

It's a surprise to him that someone actually spoke words that he can understand. Although with her daggers still in both her hands, he doesn't have much to celebrate about. He opens his mouth to respond with the only name he knows might be his.

"Titus."

He wasn't sure why but another name came out. He was trying to say Lucifer. The response he received from Rikku was a very dazzled expression. He can almost feel her heart skip a beat the moment he released the words. Titus isn't exactly sure why she responded that way to his name. Then again, he can't quite believe it himself that 'Titus' was the name that came out of his mouth.

"Tidus?" Rikku inquires while at the same time keeping her guard up.

"TITUS. Why?"

"Nothing."

Of course she's lying because his name is very similar to the Blitzball player from Zanarkand. Although this Titus seems a bit more dangerous because of the fact he seemingly laid out two trained Al Bhed soldiers by himself. Despite the scenario she found this man in, she can't help but notice that there is something awfully similar to the way this man is and the first time she met Tidus. He is lost and confused and at the same time Rikku also can't help but take note of his attracting features. He has a very sharp and circular face that is clean cut with the exception of his Mephistopheles beard that is perfectly shaped around his lips. He has a very pale tint to his skin which contrasts his short black hair. Then there's his eyes of course, the way they glow in its' reddish glow. Her heart stops for a split second.

"_He reminds me of that man in my dreams!" _

Her words echo in her head. She can't help but notice that his attire also consists of all dark colors like the man in her 'imaginations' so to speak. From his boots to his slightly loose slacks he is covered in all black. The only contrast on his lower body is the belt buckle in the middle of his belt that has a red cross. Not just any cross, it's one of those that has a diamond like shape on each four points. It almost looks like it can be used for a weapon. Then on his upper body consists of a dark reddish turtleneck shirt that is overlapped with a black trench coat. If one doesn't look closely, it would be almost like his shirt is also black. To finish the touch, his hands are also covered with black gloves. They seem to be perfectly fit for his hands as if they are the colors of his fingers. In the middle of his chest, Rikku notices a silver necklace with a cross hanging on it. Her eyes seems to linger from his necklace to his eyes which are also laid on her as well and she can't help but notice a strange familiar feeling inside her which duplicates what she felt when she woke up that one day in the Celsius after she had that dream.

_"Is he real? Is this really him? Or is this just my... fantasy?"_

"Nothing?" He takes a step forward which snaps Rikku back to reality. "Look, I mean no harm I just need help."

He has been looking at Rikku the whole time. For an obvious reason, Titus has to make sure she doesn't make a movement that'll risk his welfare. Although she doesn't look intimidating, she does have daggers in her hands. And of course in terms of looks, Titus can't peel his mind and his thoughts on the attire she is wearing, or lack of. Trying his best not to take note of her nicely toned body, her light and yet dark complexion, the pretty face with the spiral green eyes and of course the crazy, blonde, braided hair that matches her every visage, Titus takes another step forward putting his hands up by his face again trying to show pacifism. As he did, She adjusts slightly as a gesture to show him not to take another step.

"I said I mean no harm."

"Is that what you told them?" Rikku is of course referring to the unconscious Al Bheds. "You're going to have to lie down with your hands behind your back and your ankles crossed, Titus, if you're trying to convince me."

Titus smirks and Rikku doesn't like his response.

"I mean it, buster!"

Titus can only wonder if he is the only one who has a hard time taking her seriously in a situation such as this. He probably knows the answer is no. Despite her obvious younger age, wearing only yellow bikinis and a really short green skirt with a thong obviously underneath it is a given cat call, or at least a gawking response from the norm, both male and female. Aside from her blue and white boots, her legs are bare and showing just like her upper body which of course allows her nice smooth complexion to be seen by anyone. The largest piece of clothing she has on is the long red scarf around her neck with the golden tassels at the end and the white ribbon like fabric that covers her arms. He can only fathom that it can be an upper hand for her in fighting male opponents who have half a brain or are attracted to girls since he is experiencing a hard time thinking of a way of hitting her if needs be. He is hoping it wouldn't come to that.

"I'm sorry, little girl, I can't do that."

Hearing the phrase 'little girl' gets on Rikku's nerves. Seeing that this is definitely going to be more difficult than she could hope for, Rikku spins her daggers high and then drops her weight, bending her knees slightly as she lets the daggers stop on opposite arms while the sharp points still visible. She of is of course in her usual fighting stance.

"The name's Rikku, and you're going to be sorry you didn't cooperate."

"Rikku," Titus smirks again and puts his right leg back while he leaves his hands to his sides. "Let's hope for your sake you can pose more threats than your comrades here."

A sudden surge of confidence passes through Titus that he didn't know he has. Rikku on the other hand finds herself a bit more hesitant because of the fact that this man is getting to her in strange ways that she isn't familiar with. However she tries to shrug the feelings off and takes her first footing and charges forward with her daggers ready to strike. Although they have a very decent space between each other, Rikku's speed quickly decreases it which gives Titus very little time to respond. When she is in hand range, Rikku uses the speed she gathered and launches a kick with her right foot leading. Titus' automatic response is to quickly moving to the side. Rikku barely missed him by a few inches and when she realizes that that she hit nothing but air, Rikku regains her balance and backswings her right arm to his direction with the sharp point of her red dagger towards him. Taking a short lunge backwards and leaning his body out of the way, Rikku once again hits nothing but empty space. Knowing that he is still in her hitting range, Rikku then follows up with her left going straight to his direction. The hilt of her daggers are sharp and round so any direct contact would defintely be a nasty punch with a deep cut to it. With things happening so fast, Titus only has one way that he can actually make an advantage and that is to go forward. Of course he has to be accurate with how much space he clears because the wrong movement could cause him a fatal consequence. When he finds himself inside Rikku's center line, he can only react accordingly to the things that opens up to his liking. With right in lead, Titus stabs his elbow forward towards Rikku catching her low in her abdomens. As a quick response to the pain and the force, she stumbles back and bends over only to catch Titus' left palm right in her forehead jarring her sight and awareness.

_"He's faster than he looks."_

For a moment, Rikku has to completely rely on what she can hear since her eyesight isn't completely intact from her head being shaken. However she is able to pick up on the noise from Titus' steps which is directly in front of her. Carefully timing it through the distance of his noise, Rikku lifts her left leg up and thrusts her foot forward with her whole boot impacting directly on Titus' left leg quickly buckling his tracks to a complete halt. This gives Rikku enough time to catch her sight and counter acting with another kick with her other leg. Using Titus' thigh as ground and swinging her right foot upwards, Rikku connects with the tip of her boot on Titus' chin forcing him to move backwards as well. Rikku catches her momentum with a backwards sommersault and lands on her feet. The moment she did, Titus is able to retrace his steps and closes the gap as quickly as he can, he throws his right hand forward and connects with the hard part of his open palm on her left ribs. Hitting bare flesh and puncturing to the bone, Titus' solid hit takes Rikku off the ground and she falters back.

_"Stronger too."_

With her breath taken away from the strike, Rikku shuffles back as soon as she gained control of her own steps. Titus on the other hand is now standing with his right leg forward with both his hands still on his side. His eyes glowing brighter as he stands there nonchalantly. He can't help but smirk.

_"She's not down yet. Stronger than she looks."_

Of course Titus is trying his very best not to make harsh contact to damage Rikku. As he keeps a close eye on her red daggers, he can't help but wonder if it is a smart or a dumb thing to hold back.

"You're doing a lot better than your friends."

"Don't get cocky," Rikku spins her daggers and regrips so that she would have a reverse grip. "I barely got started."

"Like I said," Titus tenses his leg muscles as he slightly drops his weight. "Better than your friends because they didn't get started at all."

Rikku wants to say something else, but before she is able to let off another word, Titus attacks with amazing speed that when she realizes he is coming, he is already too close that she is unable to block his right fist digger into her abdomens. She weezes for air as she is lifted off the ground and launched a few feet away. She barely lands on her feet as she is left to catch her breath. No time for recovery as Titus is on the attack again. Creating some good space between them, Titus swings his left leg like a baseball bat and using the momentum and the pivoting of his hips, he makes full contact with his shin digging through Rikku's thigh. A jolt of pain that shot through her body as she felt her nerves punished from his kick forces her to stumble again. Regaining composure is a harder feat this time but she has to pull through because Titus isn't letting off. Now with his left side in front, Titus throws his left fist out, knowing real well that Rikku is going to respond by moving out of the way. Although not completely sure on how she will evade exactly, he is still satisfied at Rikku leaning her body away which gave her a few inches of safety from his fist. This still leaves her open with Titus' right leg coming out fast and the bottom of his right boot making complete impact with her abdomens once more. Taken aback from the force, Rikku falls back, landing on her front. The bitter and coarse ground is no friendly padding, and she can't help but feel the ground and the punishment she took from Titus all at once. Breathing is no easy task now. She regrips her dagger and pushes herself up so that she would be on her hands and knees while she is facing the ground. She coughs and for a second she thought she could taste blood.

"Had enough?"

Rikku hears Titus' words and feels enraged by his taunting. In that mere moment she had while Titus is standing still, she jumps back on her feet and lunges forward with the full intent of returning the favor of pain that he gave her.

"I'll take that as a no."

Titus mutters to himself as he quickly shuffles back to avoid a slash from Rikku. The young Al Bhed of course doesn't let off as she follows up with another horizontal slice as she spins herself with her right hand as the lead. Titus knows that he can't keep moving backwards so instead he side steps forward moving him out of the way. Rikku anticipated as much and when she regains control of her own spin, she immediately kicks high at his direction. The heel of her boot barely misses Titu's chin and if he hadn't veered his head away she probably would've connected pretty good. Then things click in his mind and before he has the chance to do something, Rikku's left foot connects in a linear fashion right to his midsection. Of course a kick is always more than enough to cause some minor distortion in the conciousness and Rikku follows up with an upward cut with her left which gives him very little time to mind the pain. Titus has no choice but to form an 'x' with his arms to avoid his face from getting cut instead his left arm took the wound. First blood was drawn and then the stinging sensation of air hitting open wound hits him. This gives him more intent as Rikku's left side is still open. In less than a second after her attack, Titus counters by throwing his right palm forward. With the full pivot of his hips and his whole weight behind the strike, Titus makes hard contact to her lower left ribs again forcing her to fold into his strike as he pushes through her body. With a lot of power delivered through her, Rikku is forced to retreat backwards from the pain and the force while she feels the full agony of it. It takes her a few steps back to finally regain her stability. Her ribs are throbbing so painfully that the rest of the blow she took earlier seems to have disappeared. Of course when adrenaline is off she knows she'll be licking her wounds. But not now. Fortunately Titus didn't follow up so she takes the moment and hurls her left dagger straight towards him. The speed of the object going straight through would've caused serious damage if it hit, Titus however he makes sure it doesn't. Moving his head slightly out of the way, he barely avoids the sharp blade as a gust of wind passes him that is caused from the dagger's speed. It stabs a rock behind him that has a cactus like person engraved on it. He turns back towards Rikku who is now pressing on another attack with her single dagger on her right hand.

"Durability," Titus whispers to himself. "She is really deceptive."

Rikku moves as fast as she can forward. In the right moment, Rikku swings her dagger towards him in a horizontal cut. Titus lunges in and jams her range and with the aid of his left arm coming out as a frame, Rikku hit the soft part of her arm to his forearm bone. Being comepletely inside her center line and deterring her intended strike, Titus takes his free arm and shoots his open palm right to her trachea. He made sure he pulled enough speed so he wouldn't cause fatal results but it was defintely enough to cause Rikku to gag from her throat being struck. Then at the moment of impact, Titus closes his thumb and index finger right into her trachea with the grip like a tiger's jaw that's clamping on a prey's neck. Pushing forward with his right arm and pulling back with his left, Titus almost looks like an archer streching his bow. Rikku's lips quivers from the lack of air while her free arm helplessly tries to reach for a strike however every movement causes her to run out of breath faster.

"Told you to just give up."

With his left leg between her legs, Titus lifts his knee up quickly and jams it right in her groin. Right when she doubles over, Titus slips the same leg so that his foot would be on her abdomens. Using it as a shoving motion, Titus thrusts his leg and releases his grip on her arm and throat which of course launches Rikku away from him. Rikku flies a few feet away until she lands painfully on the ground and from Titus' angle, all he can see are her scraf, her limbs thrashing , blonde hair, and dirt flying about. Her lone dagger is now by his feet and he stares at it, tempted to pick it up. Then the thought comes to his head that he really isn't in need of help as Rikku is on the ground, lying on her side curled up like a ball. Her arms hugging her abs favoring the pain while her knees tucked in touching her chest. With her back facing him, all Titus can hear are sobs of pain from the beating she just took. Titus sighs and drops his guards.

"Rikku," Slowly, he walks over to the young Al Bhed. "You know you started it."

Rikku keeps sobbing as she remains on the ground as Titus stands over her. Because her blonde hair is scattered all over her head, Titus can't really see her face but chances are she's swallowed up in her own tears. Titus crouches down hovering his hand to her shoulder.

"Listen, I'm really sorry."

"You're going to be more sorry that you didn't finish it!"

Rikku is in all hell of pain, however she managed to heal somewhat from pretending that she was crying. Of course she wants to cry really bad, but a fight's a fight and she can't cry her way through this.

"Huh?"

Before he could move, Rikku plants one of her Al Bhed devices on his chest and clamps on painfully with sharp metal claws. Titus backs away and realizes that he gave her too much time to rethink her strategy. He curses as he realizes that machine of some sort probably came from one of the big pouches on her skirt. Grabbing the purplish trinket and trying to pry it off, Titus is ripping flesh with it, but at the current moment he does not care since he has to get it off quickly. To his dismay, the gadget starts beeping and when looks over to Rikku, she is now on her feet with another device on her hand that looks like a remote control.

"Machina, a beautiful thing."

He wanted to yell 'stop', but he knows it would've done no good. She would've pressed it anyways just like she does at this given moment. For a moment the beeping stops and then an explosion follows. A flash of light explodes in front of him causing sight to diminish, then the burning pain surrounds him. Of course Rikku knew that the explosion wasn't going to be grand. In fact it's a bomb used to capture armored fiends. What she was hoping for was that it would be enough to put Titus down. Anyone else would've probably dropped the moment it was detonated, but Titus just jumps back and is literally on fire now. In a crazy way and wildly, he swings his arms about hoping to put out the fire that has caught his upper body. A few seconds pass and Rikku realizes that it's not going to take him down. The fire is almost out and she knows that this is her chance. Dropping the remote behind her, Rikku takes the opening and attacks once more. Wrapping her arms around her, she gathers power into both her palms. Finally a charge of crackling thunder illuminates both her hands. Spreading her feet apart, Rikku points both her palms at Titus' direction.

"This'll shock you! Thundara!!!"

When fired, it almost seemed like Rikku's scarves are her wings since the force causes anything around her to rise in upheaval from the magic she released. With her energy depleted from the beating, Rikku only used a stronger spell because she knows this is probably a rare chance she will get to have a full opening. She knows now that Titus is too fast to plow away with spells so when he is distracted is the perfect time. Titus of course is only starting to get some of his eyesight back, but when he does, he finds himself being swarmed with a force of charged lightning that passes through his body. Like a burning needle passing through every weave of his nerves, Titus can only yell as he is electrocuted from Rikku's spell. When it's over, Titus can barely stand as he is covered with smoke. Although the process took less than a few seconds, it seemed like a few minutes. Enraged from the pain, Titus glares at Rikku who is standing with her palms still extended. Her mouth almost drops as she finds him still standing with his eyes glowing in rage.

"Why won't you go down?!"

Rikku reaches in her other pouch and grabs a bomb that she has mixed through her alchemy. Hurling it at her direciton, the moment it hit the ground it explodes. It didn't seem like he moved out of the way and it would appear that he ate the full jist of the explosion, but when Rikku finds Titus standing in front of her with the same glowing red eyes, Rikku shudders from the thought of just how fast he is.

"I do go down. I just don't break easy."

Taking a step back, Rikku throws her left leg which connects well to his ribs but it's almost like hitting a brick wall because he stands there and takes it and in that process, Titus' right arm has a good hold on her leg securing it tight to his body and clamping it with his forearm bone. Rikku finds herself now balancing on one leg which isn't a problem since she always has good balance, however with the smirk slipping from his lips, Rikku knows that things aren't looking good. Using his weight, Titus lunges forward and slams his left forearm on the upper part of Rikku's knee that he is holding. Because Titus is going against the natural bend of the knee and not to mention he managed to gain a lot of momentum, Rikku has no choice but to go down, which is the direction that Titus is pushing. Thinking real fast, Rikku tucks her chin to her chest so her head wouldn't hit the hard ground, however she couldn't prevent her bare back to take the punishment of gravity and solid ground. As she yelps in pain, Titus keeps her left leg with his right arm while his left foot is in between her legs. Without give her a chance to recover, Titus slides his hand from her achilles to the top of her boot while his left hand grabbing her heel. Pushing down with the right and pulling with the leftin a circular motion Rikku can only scream as she feels tension on the joints of her leg. The motion has every capability to rip the knee and the ankle so Rikku's only reaction to save her leg is to turn to her front, now her face is to the ground again. During the process, she must've yelled out profanities in Al Bhed but it doesn't stop Titus from pressing on. He lets her leg go and place his left foot on top of her rear. It wasn't a kick so it makes Rikku wonder, but as soon as she hears a strange sound, she soon realizes he is casting magic. With his palm glowing in a red aura and pointing towards her, Titus releases a shockwave that blast Rikku point black from behind. With the ground keeping her still along with his foot, Rikku felt her whole body rocked with an unbearable pain like a really strong meteor spell just hit her in full force. From that moment, conciousness is hard to get a good grip on and her body isn't responding correctly. Her vision is still somewhat functional, but everything seems to get really blurry. She can still hear Titus as he walks over her and his feet now on both sides of her hips. She feels Titus grabbing her arms and pinning them behind her and to her dread he's binding them with something. If she could fight back she would, but at the given moment she really can't do much. Eventually, the conciousness fades and Rikku surrenders to the bitter welcome of darkness.


	5. Chapter 5: Unreal Emotions

**Chapter V – Unreal Emotions**

_Some time before……._

She has a lot in her mind. The appearance of the Angel Kamea, the name Lucifer and the 'demons' he will bring with him, then of course the shooting star that seemed to have landed on the Thunder Plains where Rikku is camping out to get over her astraphobia. With Brother and Buddy doing everything they can to get to the plains faster, Yuna looks over Shinra's shoulder to see if he can come up with anything that would analyze exactly what the shooting star is about.

"The strange thing about it is that it does have the energy reading of a star," Shinra keeps pushing buttons that brings up different menu bars on the computer screen. They are in Al Bhed so Yuna can only read some. "But one odd thing about it is that it has life readings…"

"Life readings?" Buddy over hears Shinra and slightly tilts his head towards their direction.

"In the middle of it it's putting out the same energy waves as pyreflies do after a fiend disappears, but just stronger. It's in the core of the star itself."

"There's life in there?" Yuna leans closer to the monitor to confirm it. "How can that be?"

"I don't know. I'm just a kid."

It's Shinra's usual answer whenever the conversation gets to the point where he can't explain. He is right though, a kid his age shouldn't know that much, but he is a whiz kid.

"Yuna," Brother calls. "We're about to be in Thunder Plains so get ready to…."

Before Brother is able to finish his sentence, the Celsius' alarm starts going off all over the ship. The bridge is literally covered in red glow as the alarm lets them know just how critical things are.

"What is it now?!" Brother gets up from his chair and waves his arms in a crazy way towards Buddy.

"Scanners are picking up life forms around Celcius vicinity!"

"Fiends?!" Yuna's instincts are to reach for her Tiny Bees.

"Sort of," Buddy keeps looking at his monitor. His reply got Yuna, Brother, and Shinra his undivided attention. "The readings are similar, but there is something different about them."

"Well whatever they are... They're closing in on us!!!"

Brother pulled up the same monitor that Buddy is looking at and he is distraught at what he sees. Then of course eyes goes to Yuna who is the only experienced fighter in the group.

"I got it." Her guns are already drawn out as she nods to the three of them and starts walking towards the elevator.

"Be careful, Yuna!!!"

Brother calls out one last time before the elevator door closes in on her. Her heart is pounding as the lights of the elevator changes and then the feeling of it ascending up enhances the feeling. She hasn't fought in a long while, at least not real battles. Ever since she lost the ability to Summon, her powers are very limited to black and white magic. Of course when it comes to magic, Lulu is still superior to her, but she doesn't have her guardians now, it's just her. Luckily the Al Bhed were kind enough to create two pistols just for her as a token of appreciation for saving Spira. These Tiny Bees as she calls them are the one thing she trained constantly on. She had al ittle bit of practice in other forms of battle, but she is a Gunner. This is her job that she is good at therefore this is how she will fight for the first time solo. Then the moment of anticipation multiplies as finally the elevator door opens and Yuna is exposed to the cold winds of the night sky. Calmly, she takes a few steps which isn't easy by any means because of the fact that Celcius is moving fast and she can feel that Buddy slowed down a bit so that she can manage a better point of balance. It doesn't take long for her to reach the middle where she can see the 'Gullwings' emblem that leads the ship's front part. Her guns gripped tightly as she feels something coming from the dark skies. Then the sounds of screeching roars and something flapping like wings hitting air. Her eyes veers left and right to try and catch something, but through the darkness there are only shadows. Then finally Yuna manages to catch an image of one but it's coming too fast towards her. In training, the moment she sees something straight on she usually points a gun and shoot, but this isn't practice. This is real. She freezes and can't pick up her gun. Instead she dodges out of the way by rolling forward. She feels the gust of wind pass her and when she is able to catch herself on her knees, another one comes from a blind sight and she feels a sharp pain and she is taken down. She keeps a good grip on both guns as she falls on the ground face first. She quickly gets up to sense another one coming and once again she rolls out of the way and when she is able to get to her feet, she realizes that her left arm is bleeding. The blood from the wound starts smeering the yellow wrap are on her arm. She has no time to heal for finally her assailants show themselves in plain view. They look like demons with the shade of dark purple and a little tint of red in the inside lining of their wings. The horns on their head defintely confirms their breed. As skinny as they are, they are muscular in form and very aggressive looking. Their reptilian eyes are glowing in gold while they hiss at the sight of Yuna. One would probably enough to give her trouble but from the looks of things they came in a pack of seven.

"Valefor wouldn't be a bad idea right now..." She mutters underneath her breath as she points both her guns at their direction. "But you two will have to do."

She pulls the trigger and the seven scatter. Both guns have a good kick and with their size, any normal Al Bhed firearm would probably be a little bit impractical for her, but these guns are customed made so she will be able to handle them. She's going to need it considering the demons are flying fast and in various directions that it is hard for her to lock on one. She fires to the left only to have her right side hit. She stumbles back only to be attacked again which causes her to fall forward. To avoid the full impact of fall, Yuna rolls forward and immediately redirects her body so she would be facing behind her. One lunges at her and she reacts by firing both guns. No avail for it is too fast and it flies upwards away from her range. She can feel all seven fly upwards away from her range. This could be a good sign or a method to regain their strategy or merely taunting her. Either or, Yuna isn't exactly confident at the situation right now. She gets on her feet still holding the Tiny Bees tightly. Before she can catch her breath, the seven demons hover themselves so that they would surround her in a perfect circle. Yuna can feel her heart pounding as if defeat has already taken her.

_"Yuna,"_ A familiar voice. One that is deep and calming. _"The Aeons were not your power. Remember, they would not have complied if you didn't have the strength."_

"Sir Auron?"

Yuna will recognize her ex-Guardian's voice anywhere. Besides whenever he was around when he was unsent, one can always feel the strength that he lets off. She feels that power now and her heart starts to calm down.

_"Focus, Yuna. This is your story now. Erase the words that doesn't need to be there, and write the ones to your liking."_

Then just like that, Auron's presence vanishes leaving Yuna alone again to deal with the situation. But this time around Yuna feels a different confidence. With the Tiny Bees in both hands, Yuna veers her eyes to the left and to the right, scanning the circling demons who stalk her like vultures getting ready for their prey to die so they can feast. Yuna however has something different in mind. Calmly, she lifts up both her arms and points both guns on both sides so that she would form a 'cross' like shape with her body. The demons take note and make their move and with that, Yuna pulls the triggers of both her guns, firing the empty space given to her. The first few shots merely scattered the demons' formation which is what Yuna wants. Pointing her both guns to the right, one takes the full blast, right after that Yuna switches back so that they would point in contrasting directions. Another one takes the bullet, then Yuna shifts her arms again and another one gets shot, then another, then she points to the front and to the back, more demon skin gets punctured. Yuna shifts her footing only to adhere to the stability she needs, other than that she stays in one place and the only thing moving are her arms. All her movements and where she shoots corresponds with how the demons move. Bullets fly everywhere and if she wasn't fighting in moving ground, the blank rounds would probably be all over the floor. Soon she can feel that there are only two left and the second to the last ate four bullets in less than a second. The last one gave one last desperate attack and flies head on. Yuna drops her left gun and points her right Tiny Bee straight to the face and in one sharp shooter timing, the last one takes the fire straight through its brain where it falls a few feet in front of Yuna. With one last final act of life, the demon screeches at Yuna but eventually it lost its last breath. This is the confirmation that these aren't regular fiends because when fiends die they release a greenish aura. This demon on the other hand becomes transparent through a reddish glow until finally it disappears. There were no pyreflies after to show the transmigration to the Farplane. The only evidence of its existance are the blood and bruises that Yuna feels in her arms and ribs. Despite all that, Yuna accomplishes her first victory in her new found job.

"That's how it's done."

Yuna finds herself muttering Auron's famous words as she blows on the barrel of her gun.

"Yuna!" It's Brother yelling through the intercom. "Are you alright?!"

"I'm okay."

"Good! Get back in the bridge! We have to go on Overdrive right now because the star has landed!!! Rin also told us that Rikku checked it out already and hasn't come back!"

"Okay!"

Putting her guns on the holsters in her blue and white 'half-skirt', Yuna runs back towards the elevator as fast as she can. As the door closes in on her, she can't help but think about what Kamea said about the demons and the new monsters she just fought mere moments ago. However contemplation about that should probably be the last thing in her mind since Rikku is probably going to need her help.

"Hang on, Rikku." She whispers to herself.

When she gets back to the bridge of course Brother goes to her and checks every inch of her to make sure she is alright. Of cousre he is over zealous for her welfare and the scratch she gained from the fight seemed like a death wound to him but Yuna quickly calms him down and reminds him that getting to the Thunder Plains is a priority. Brother acknowledges Yuna's request and jumps back to his station. While that happens, Yuna uses white magic to heal her wound while the Celsius blasts its way through the open night sky and towards Thunder Plains. They didn't have much time to travel so when they arrive in less than a few minutes. When they do arrive, Yuna and the others can see that even the Thunder Plains isn't spared from this strange and chaotic night. The Al Bhed are everywhere battling fiends who seems to be greater in number than normal. Fiends come in random occurences because of the way the pyreflies work so it is always just a handful. This time however the numbers seems to occupy all the Al Bhed residing in Thunder Plains. Without saying a word to each other, Buddy opens the door to Celsius and lets Yuna jump the few feet down to help. Aside from learning to be a sharp shooter, Yuna learned how to be able to move about with grace and agility. Since her ability to manipulate magic decreased from losing the Aeons, Yuna had to quickly compensate for a lot of things and of course she had adapt to be more physical. So jumping off Celsius from a moderate height has become somewhat second nature. Of course she still has to properly time when to distribute her weight when she lands or she will break her knees. The moment her feet touches the Thunder Plains' grounds, Yuna immediately picks off the fiends left and right. With the Al Bhed helping, Yuna is able to shoot to kill right away. There are many of them and various ones. Some took more than a few bullets while some gives her a bit of a fight but nothing she isn't able to deal with right away. The numbers of fiends decrease however the fight is not yet over.

"Yuna!!!" It was Rin calling. Yuna sees him immediately by his inn and she runs to him. He has a few Al Bhed with him with their guns drawn ready to fight. "It's good to see that even without the ability to call on Aeons that you're still as dependable as ever."

"I do what I can," Yuna gives a slight bow. "How's everything holding up?"

"We're keeping the lines. But any idea what is causing this?"

The thoughts of Kamea and the name 'Lucifer' brushes pass her mind.

"No." She answers coldly. "Rikku. Where is she?"

Rin turns his head to the direction where the mist seems to have covered all visuals ahead.

"She went in not that long before you guys arrived. Two of my men went in there before her and didn't come back, that's why she went," Rin pauses his words looking at the same direction."We heard some noises which sounds like someone casted some magic. But neither Rikku or the others have returned."

Yuna takes her attention to where Rin said Rikku went. She can't help but feel something awfully strong towards that direction. Almost mesmerized by the energy, Yuna turns her body as if she is getting ready to walk over there.

"You're not going in there by yourself, are you?" Rin breaks the trance. "You can take a couple of my men."

Yuna pauses at the thought. Help sounds like a good idea but in the back of her mind she knows they won't do much especially if they are going to be up against something greater than fiends. Although she doesn't posses the powers like she used to, she knows that this is going to be her fight. It is her role to make sure that the Eternal Calm stays. But in the mean time she knows that one of her ex-Guardians and her cousin is in danger and she has to do something about it. Besides the Al Bhed are going to need all the help they can get to tackle the berserking fiends so it's better if she goes alone.

"No they're going to be needed to protect the travellers in this area. I'll be okay Rin, thanks."

With that, Yuna takes off towards the same direction that Rikku went through some time ago. Rin could only hope that they will see her again.

_The Present....._

The unconciousness is a strange thing. So many things can happen in one's mind that one can't be sure if it's the dream world or if it's real. Memories of the past starts to flash through Rikku's mind. Some are as far as Yuna's pilgrimage while some are just a few days ago. Eventually Rikku starts to realize that she is starting to come back to conciousness because she's starting to regain the senses of her body. As she wonders why she has aches all over, she starts to remember the events that has transpired before that caused this. Titus was his name. She had the unfortunate opportunity to go toe to toe with the stranger from the 'heavens', or so he seems like he's from heaven. He hits like he came from hell though and the final result is her getting beat like a mindless fiend. Rikku's first instinct is to try and open her eyes, of course at first things are blurry and hard to grasp but eventually she gets a full view of the Thunder Plains. However when she moves her limbs, things seems to not work as well as she would hope. Her arms are pinned behind her and to her dread she remembers before she lost conciousness, Titus was binding her hands. Of course that doesn't change because they are nicely connected with some sort of cord on both her wrists, forcing her hands together palm to palm. Her legs are also in the same predicament for they are bound with what she would imagine to be the same black ropes used on her hands. They are tied around her ankles which are biting through her boots so getting up is out of the question. To make things a bit more inconvenient a black strand of the 'rope' but thicker is slapped across her lips and wraps around her head which forces her lips to be sealed like they are sewn together. From their sticky feel on her face, Rikku can imagine that their adherence is what keeps her lips from even opening. Not that anyone would be able to hear her through all the lightning, that and Titus seems to have chosen the farthest lightning tower to place her in. However she does hear activities from far away that seems like gunshots and fiends screaming. Titus however is nowhere to be seen. This is her chance to try and escape. As sore and as much pain she is in, Rikku makes her first attempt against her bonds. Her first try are against the binds keeping her wrists trapped together. She tries first to slip them off by shaking her arms in opposite directions, one going up, the other going down. From just the feel, Rikku can tell that Titus encircled them horizontaly, and then another set going verticaly which keeps them clamped together really tight. There is no slack to slip off and so her next effort is to pull against them. Like a vise, the ropes holds tight and she accomplishes nothing but irritate the blood flow of her hands. Leaning on the lightning tower that she is sitting next to, Rikku picks her legs up and starts to wiggle them, hoping that she would slip them free. It doesn't take long for her to give up and set them back down. In her head she is thinking that it wouldn't have been that much efficient if she got them free but at least she could run. With her efforts pretty much futile, Rikku sags in her bonds and admits defeat by hanging her head down. Then suddenly something catches her attention that makes her lift her head up again.

"Awake so soon?" Titus has a smirk in his face as if a hunter admiring his prey. "You're tougher than you look. I thought you'd be sleeping peacefully for a little longer."

Rikku responds by trying to yell profanities at him for he is obviously mocking her. Of course as she thought the gag forces her to produce nothing but muffled incoherent words.

"You're even cuter like that."

Titus crouches in front of her so that they would be a few feet away from each other.

"I can keep you like this for a while."

Glaring at him, Rikku squirms about wildly while trying to talk harshly through her gag. Titus raises a brow as he keeps the same distance as she wiggles about like a fish out of water. She keeps the struggle for about a few seconds until she realizes that her breath is limited through her nose since her mouth is sealed. Giving up again, Rikku leans on the lightning tower as she lets out a frustrated moan. Her hair disheveled all over her face from the result of her constant moving about.

"Okay, so I'm going to take off your gag to let you drink, you going to behave?"

Rikku's eyes still burns through Titus, but seeing the current situation of being helpless and still pretty injured, she pretty much has no choice but to comply. Giving one last sigh through her gag, Rikku slowly nods her head as she stares down to avoid eye contact. Titus acknowledges as he reaches his hands near her cheeks and takes his index fingers and slips them off. With it being applied tight, it was an irritating process but eventually it slides off and Rikku lets off short gasp of air from the pressure being released.

"Drink?"

In his hand is a purple bottle which Titus must've taken from her pouches. She had a few potions and ethers and he is offering her an ether. Rikku shakes her head.

"The green one..." She tries her best to use her head to signal towards the green bottles on the ground near him. "...please."

Titus says nothing and reaches for them willingly. Rikku is a bit surprised that he doesn't question why she wants a different drink aside from the one he's offering which probably signifies that he knows nothing about Spira's use of potions and ethers. At any other time this would have been an advantage. Potions heal injuries, but even if a potion is able to cure all of her wounds, she won't be able to break through the ropes that he tied her with. However at least some of the pain will be taken away which can make the situation better than before. Titus moves in closer and puts his right arm behind her so that he can help her with balance while his left hand keeps the open bottle of potion close. With the best she can with the limited movement given to her, Rikku leans forward trying to get her lips around the bottle. She never really thought about how hard it is to do the simplest things when the factor of her limbs are taken away. She finally gets the chance to connect her lips around the cylinder shape of the potion bottle which Titus angles for her slowly so the liquid inside will ease itself down her throat. Rikku can feel the warm magical water run through her body slowly healing some of her injuries. Both thirsty and severly injured, Rikku takes a few gulps nearly finishing the bottle in less time than she usually would. With the bottle empty, Titus steps back and puts it near the other full bottles while Rikku catches her breath from drinking. With her captor no longer supporting her, she leans back towards the lightning tower again. Although not fully healed, she feels a little better that some of her wounds are starting to get better. Now she just has to wait for time and if Titus will allow her to drink more. She shakes the thought off considering that her fate doesn't look too promising right now regardless she gets a full recovery from the potions.

"So," Titus crouches in front of her again with both his hands resting on his knees. "What can you tell me about this place?"

"Znir U kid whii {When I get free}," She mutters loud enough so that he can hear her speak. "U'l kyurk dy sod ifiha buise yw ayo zyhdn soddurk {I'm going to cut every piece of you worth cutting}."

Titus closes his eyes and sighs as Rikku glares at him knowing damn well that it's the only thing she can do is give him the dirtiest look and talk as harsh as she can. He opens his eyes and shrugs as he leans closer towards her.

"Ry omi yw ayo decgurk uw ayo'hi ryd kyurk dy pi bycudi {No use of you talking if you're not going to be polite}."

To Rikku's astonishment, Titus spoke a fluid sentence in Al Bhed which also conveys that he understands what she just said. Before she manages to say anything, he slips the gag back on reducing her response to nothing more than muffled sounds. When it was secured again, Titus gets up leaving Rikku to her silenced predicament. In the back of his head he is also wondering how in the world he is able to respond in her native tongue when mere moments ago he was completely lost. As he turns his back to Rikku, he scans the black vastness of this bleak land and can only wonder where he is or where should he go. Better yet, what should he do about his uknown identity. So many questions, but so little time to ponder about it because everywhere there are noises that indicates there are things going on around the area that might be potential danger to him and Rikku. Sighing to himself, Titus turns around and crouches in front of Rikku again with a much more stern look in his face. His crimson eyes glowing in the darkness. Rikku is reluctant to return the stare but she finds her eyes lingering to his.

"Look, I know things don't look too good on my side," His voice is filled with a serious undertone. "But we are going to have to help each other out. There is something going on out there that even I know are here to do some intentional damage. Something greater than what I could do. So if you won't tell me about this place, you can at least help me defend it. I don't want to hurt anyone, I told you that."

Rikku wants to tune him out because of how irritated she is that he put her in this distressing situation because if there is one thing Rikku hates the most is feeling helpless in the eye of the enemy. However his voice has a strong sense of justice behind it. Her eyes also seems to want to trace themselves back to his face where she could see his glowing red eyes staring back at her own. If she gets pass all the things that has transpired within their first moments of encounter, Rikku can't help but feel that strange connection from this man. It goes back to that dream that she had that night and then that moment she went to the Battle Arena to look for a sphere. She may have been alone all those times but she can't help but feel that she was accompanied by some sort of guardian. As she contemplates about it, she wasn't alone at all. She can't seem to put her finger on it, but she knows that there was someone in the Battle Arena with her. She can't think of a face or a name but she knows the feeling of that certain person. For some odd reason those emotions are pointing to this man who is called Titus.

"You're still badly injured from the fight," He breaks her thoughts with his voice. Rikku finds herself listening attentively, her eyes still reluctant to stare back at him. "One potion won't do the trick and even if I let you drink your last two, you're still not going to heal in time. You have internal injuries that won't heal any time soon and I need you to be in full force."

Titus also didn't know the fact that the liquid he gave her to hydrate herself is something used to heal one's body, but for some reason, he knows that now. Rikku is just as surprised as she gives him a very perplexed expression followed with a garbled noise through her gag.

"I'm going to heal you. But be aware that it may not feel quite the same like the white magic that you are used to. Are you going to be okay with that?"

_"He knows so much and yet he doesn't know anything. Can I trust him?"_ Rikku is a little cautious, but she knows he is right. She's just taken by surprise with the amount of knowledge that he is able to convey even though in all sincerity he is a complete stranger to this place. Then the strange feeling of that dream rushes through her again. _".... Come on Rikku, do you have a choice?"_

"So? What do you say? We really don't have much time."

She's not quite sure of what he is talking about specificaly. She can only imagine it's in regards to the fiends that seems to be more active around the Thunder Plains. Besides, from the way it sounds that he is going to free her. Slowly, she nods her head while her eyes never leaving his. A faint smile comes out of his lips.

"Good," Titus leans closer. "Just relax. It'll just be a really fast adrenaline rush."

Titus and Rikku are physicaly close now as he places his left palm a few inches away from her chest. It doesn't take long for Titus' hand to starts emanating a red aura almost similar to the one that came from his hand when he decimated her earlier. It's not a very comforting sight to see that same glow especially since he is so close and the fact that she's bound helpless against it, yet she somehow already made the decision to trust him. Despite the situation, deep down inside somehow she is more than willing to give in and that there is something about him that makes him trust worthy. Soon enough the energy that Titus called upon starts to slither its way to Rikku's body which gives her a sensation like no other she has ever felt. The warm tingling feeling starts to wrap itself around her like another coat of skin which spreads from her chest and all the way through her body. Rikku lets out an involuntary moan as the magic works its way through her wounds and all the internal problems she acquired from Titus' retaliations. It's almost like someone is pouring warm water all over her but she isn't getting soaked. The strangest thing about it is not the physical feeling she is recieving since its similar to feeling white magic but it's strange foreign images that are being bombarded in her head. Faces and events of things Rikku can barely comprehend starts to ensare her attention which somehow also makes her feel each feeling that corresponds with what she sees. Entities with wings of different shades element appears before her mind, demons, monsters, beasts that are so unfamiliar, people who are armed for war, events of massacres, death everywhere, blood, and then there are happy images of what seems to be love, friendship, and then victory. Along with the vivid images, Rikku felt through the rage, the sorrow, the guilt, the pain, and then whenever a woman with a pair of silver wings with a beautiful face with the long black hair appears, the feeling of love and security overshadows all the tragic emotions.

_"...We are Eternal..."_

Those words echoes in her mind as the woman with the silver wings whispers to whom Rikku can guess is Titus. Then with those words still dancing in her mind, the process came to a complete halt and all the memories were pulled away from her. Overwhelmed by the process, Rikku's body feels weak and she leans forward and finds her head on Titus' shoulder who is also somewhat drained from the ordeal as both his hands are holding himself up by leaning on the lightning tower. Still bound and gagged, Rikku can't help but notice that it's almost like Titus is holding her in an embrace as she finds both his arms on both sides of her head. She can feel his chest heave up and down quicker than normal as her head is now on his chest. She as well has to take in as much air through her nose as she can feel her body weakened, but rejuvanated. The injuries seems to have subsided and aside from aching from the restraints, Rikku no longer feels the beating that she took form Titus not too long ago.

"Eternal...."

Titus mutters underneath his breath which Rikku heard perfectly considering how close they are. Still unable to speak, Rikku lets off a sound through her gag trying to catch his attention. Slowly opening his eyes, Titus takes one of his hand and places it on Rikku's shoulder and carefully places her back to the tower so that she wouldn't fall over. Easing himself to the crouching position, Titus gives Rikku another stern look. She returns to stare with her undivided attention.

_"His eyes..."_ She thinks to herself.

"I'm going to untie you," His voice is almost winded which is caused by healing Rikku. "But you are going to have to behave because I **_want_** your help, but I don't **_need_** your help. So do we have a deal?"

Rikku nods with more enthusiasm this time. Titus responds with a smirk and he reaches for her gag first. But the second he does something catches Rikku's attention from behind. Titus notices her eyes widening with fear and turns around quickly which is a little too late for something hits him a great a amount of strength. Rikku squeals underneath her gag as she realizes that it's an Iron Giant. Clad in full body armor and carrying a sword as big as one of hte lightning rod, anyone who would've been hit like it hit Titus mere moments ago would probably be dead. Seeing how it is that Titus is nowhere to be seen, Rikku finds herself in the worse situation. These fiends are dangerous enough even when Auron was by their side, but now that she is all alone, bound and gagged, and completely taken by surprise which makes this battle pretty much hopeless. It's eyes glows in a light reddish aura as it examines the young Al Bhed before it. It takes a step which causes the ground underneath her to shake. With everything she has, Rikku struggles wildly by trying to pull her hands free, kicking her legs together to try and loosen them, and in the process she screams from the top of her lungs hoping that something would give. Nothing. The Iron Giant merely takes a closer step and with it's left hand starts reaching towards her as it's going to grab her. The Iron Giant's hand is bigger than Rikku herself so whatever plan it has is definetly no good for her. With every effort she can Rikku keeps on fighting against her restrains not even caring about the scrapes and agitation its causing her skin. In her mind she knows that this could be it. Fiends don't take prisoners, they kill. She is a fish out of water and she is easy prey for this fiend.

"Leave her alone!"

In the final moment something deterred the fiend from getting any closer. With its gigantic size it must've been something strong for the Iron Giant stumbles back nearly dropping its humongous sword. Rikku's eyes were closed tight thinking it was over but as she turns her head to the direciton of the voice she thought was familiar, she can't be any happier to see that Titus is still standing. His eyes glowing in full rage with his right palm extended and still glowing in red from what Rikku can fathom as a magic spell that he casted to blast the giant back. His upper clothing tattered and barely hanging on to his body which is probably a result from being struck by a sword about ten times his size. The landing must not have been a great feeling either from what Rikku can only imagine. They catch each other's eyes in that split second they are given and she can almost hear through her expression that he is saying: 'it's going to be okay.' She can only hope.

"_Be careful_!"She yells but only a muffled noises slips through.

Titus hears her but he takes the first footing and charges towards the fiend. His eyes glowing even brighter and his fists clenched tight. The Iron Giant sees him and takes both hands on the hilt of the sword and swings at Titus' direction. Titus had a long way to go in order to even get in hitting range but because the Iron Giant has the advantage he has to react to the situation and takes a high jump to clear it. The moment he lands, Titus continues charging forward to gain the footing he needs to be able to strike the fiend. Since he is incredibly smaller, Titus is only able to hit about leg level but from what he can get, he takes full advantage and exerts a force using his fist through the armored fiend's knee. The sound was like metal colliding with metal as each strike Titus applies forces the Iron Giant to stumble back a few steps or two. Being aware of where he is, the Iron Giant retaliates by back swinging its giant arm which Titus quickly evades and steps in its center line. When inside, Titus illuminatese his right palm with energy and quickly releases it which hits the Iron Giant right in between the legs. The fiend lets out a deep and painful grunt as it finds itself taking a few steps back and then drops on one knee. To keep itself from falling completely, the Iron Giant stabs the sword on the ground and keeps one hand on the hilt while the other on the ground. The glow in its eyes brighten as it gets a full view of Titus with his fist clenched tight and energy emanating from his right hand. The Iron Giant lets off a bellow of anger and ignites its own spell and hurl it's at Titus' direction but he reacts with great speed and using his own glowing hand, he repels it by driving his fist through the flare spell which of course defuses it almost immediately. If the fiend could express emotion it probably would be shocked at how strong this warrior is. Rikku herself can't help but watch with astonishment on how Titus is dealing with the situation. Throughout the whole time she has been trying to get some freedom but most of her attention has been spared towards the man she met today. She is shocked at the fact that he is able to accomplish something that probably only Auron can do and that is give this fiend a run for its money. Needless to say with her bonds holding tight she has gotten nowhere and not to mention she hasn't tried that hard.

"Go now."

Titus whispers as he allows energy to radiate his left hand and he points it at the Iron Giant. With no hesitation, Titus releases a wave of energy at the fiend hitting it directly at its face. The faint green glow of pyreflies starts to surround the fiend as it falls on its back. Titus then turns to Rikku who is staring at him with eyes implying everything that she can't say.

"I wish we didn't spend so much time beating each other up," Titus is now standing over her as he speaks softly. "I could've spent all that energy making sure I can last against a few more of those giants."

He once again crouches in front of Rikku and reaches for the knots that are connecting her ankles together. In a few seconds, Rikku starts feeling the grip to loosen up and eventually they are completely untied. In relief, Rikku sighs through her gag and spreads her feet apart so she would be able to stretch them. It's a straining ordeal to have her legs pinned together in the same position so having them finally free is a blissful feeling. As soon as her hands and mouth are removed from their restrains, Rikku will feel a thousand folds better. But of course in the back of her mind she knows that it won't be a cake walk after this because they still have to deal with fiends. With that in her mind, she also can't help but ponder at the fact that her heart is beating fast at Titus' close presence. With the strange dream she had some time ago, his amazingly imressive skill, their connection when he healed her, and not to mention that he saved her not too long ago may have a huge factor on the strange behavior she is having in her head. She can't help but keep her eyes on him as he moves himself near her arms so that he can work on the ropes on her wrists. Then suddenly something catches his attention and soon enough Rikku sees it herself. The Iron Giant isn't down yet and for some reason it is glowing in a purplish aura. Titus quickly grabs Rikku by wrapping his arms around her shoulders and he leaps them both out of the way. It was a good thing that Titus was able to react when he did because the fiend's sword would've hit the exact spot that they were in and the lightning tower suffers damage causing debris to fly all over the place. Titus lands not too far away and places Rikku on her feet. Although able to stand she still feels completely useless and she pretty much is. With her hands still the way they are magic and hand to hand are still immobilized which means the fight is still on Titus' hands and he knows it. He keeps Rikku behind him flaring his arms to cover her as much as he can.

"Strange.... what is going on with that thing?"

Titus was speaking more to himself since he is well aware that Rikku is still unable to speak with the gag still on her mouth but it doesn't stop her from trying to respond. The Iron Giant on the other hand pulls its sword out of the tower that was stuck for a little while becaues of the penetration it was able to do. With that action however the fiend's sword absorbed some of the lightning that the tower sucked from the sky. Its' sword is now glowing in a lightning elemental glow as its eyes narrows as it glares at both Titus and Rikku.

"Stay behind me no matter what!"

Titus' takes a step back and Rikku follows. She pretty much has no choice but to do whatever Titus is saying because the Iron Giant is ready for blood. With its sword sparking with lightning element, the fiend cocks it back signifying that it's just going to hurl the blade at their direction. In that same moment, Titus illuminates both his hands with the same red energy but this time with more power as the ground below them cracks form the surge of power. His own eyes glows in a furious crimson light as he extends both his palms at the Iron Giant's direction. A straight beam of energy goes through the fiend's head with one clean shot forcing it to loose its' balance and fall down to its back once more and this time permanently. Before its fall however it managed to throw the lightning sword which of course has a lot of momentum behind it. Still trying to recover from his attack, Titus will not have enough time to evade this one and he is sure Rikku won't either so energizing his palms again, Titus summons an energy shield that meets the sword in full force. Because of the massive size, Titus finds himself pushed back a bit with his feet digging through the ground and the energy waves exploding all over the place causing cracks and distortion everywhere. Squealing and nearly falling on her butt, Rikku back steps a bit hoping that Titus can hold. Through her observation she can tell that the fiend is starting to fade away and with the Iron Giant's death, its sword will go with it but she isn't entirely sure if Titus can hold out. Through his tattered clothing, which is pretty much close to nothing, Rikku can see his every effort as every muscle in his body tenses as he puts a lot of energy trying to repel the sword. Something catches her attention though, in his shoudler blades there seems to be some sort of black markings or scars. The way they are shaped it almost seems like they are wings for they spread through his shoulders and some of it goes down along his ribs next to his spine. Rikku is used to tattoos or scars since a lot of Al Bhed are popular for their love for body ink however the one thing that sets his marks aside is the fact that they seem to be glowing as well as more energy seems to pour out of Titus. Then a bright light shines from where Titus stands which Rikku has to turn away from because her she can't use her hands to sheild her eyes. With her eyes closed, Rikku can still feel the warm energy althrough her body and she can also feel that the world around her is shaking from the raw power that is being enforced. Soon enough, Rikku hears an explosion, the ground shakes violently, and then everything stops like someone just pressed a button that put everything into a halt. Slowly, she opens her eyes to get a full view of Titus still standing with his back to her and a cloud of smoke in front of them. The scars in his back seems to have stopped glowing but his hands are still poised the same way. The fiend and the sword are nowhere to be found so needless to say that Titus managed to stop both of them.

_"He did it."_

Rikku can't be more relieved. Of course Titus himself couldn't be anymore grateful but he finds himself worn out. Pacing himself, Titus turns around so he can face the young Al Bhed. They exchange glances and from the expression through Rikku's eyes, Titus can tell that she is a little concerned seeing how it is his body is obviously a bit beaten.

"You... alright?"

His voice staggering from trying to catch his breath. Walking forward, Rikku nods her head and responds with a little squeal through her gag. Titus on the other hand starts to lose composure and he finds himself leaning over to Rikku's direction. Without the use of her hands, Rikku braces herself as most of Titus' weight falls on her. His head draping on her right side while bother his arms going around her as if he was hugging her. With his shirt pretty much ripped off, she can feel his bare skin and the cold necklace around his neck touching her own. Of course Titus himself is getting the same feeling with him being so close but in the mean time his main concern is trying to keep himself up but he finds it a bit difficult at this given moment. He knows his balance is off and he is about to fall but he doesn't want to land on Rikku considering she doesn't have her hands to catch herself so manipulating his weight towards his direction, Titus falls backwards and unintentionaly taking Rikku with him. Yelping underneath her gag, Rikku falls with Titus and when they land, she finds it incredibly convenient that she lands with both her legs straddling his hips with her shins on the ground while her whole upper body falling on top of his. Being chest to chest and her face on the side of his neck, Rikku is having a harder time supressing the strange emotions that seems to erupt when being this close to Titus.

_"Why am I feeling this?"_

"Sorry," Titus places his hand on Rikku's shoulders and slowly eases her off in a more 'sitting' position. "I lost too much strength back there."

With her weight off his, Titus is able to sit himself down with Rikku still stradled on his lap. In that given moment he himself starts to feel waves of emtions that are a little more intimate than he would expect. Well with Rikku's pluck personality, her beauty, and not to mention her choice of clothing, Titus can only ponder who wouldn't feel the way they do if they are this close to Rikku.

"I'll get you out in a moment..."

"_Don't_..."

Rikku tried to say but it results to the same incoherent sound however what she wasn't able to say is able to communicate through her eyes as the two of them lock glances again. For some reason those emotions are starting to ascend into new levels as she found her sensitive area close to his. One cannot exempt the fact that they are in a very seducing position and the both of them cannot deny the attraction they have had the moment they laid eyes on each other and it's just that now through the momentary connection and the adrenaline that they can really take note of this undying lust. Rikku who wants nothing more than to touch his nicely toned body is finding out that the urge is being enhanced by the captivity she finds herself in. She tries to say words which only results through moans and grunts but her eyes can signify everything that she is feeling. Writhing through her bonds slowly and lustfully while Titus' hand finds itself brushing through Rikku's cheek, carefully moving the braided hair out of her face. In response, Rikku leans her face closer and rubs her sealed lips across his own making him feel the form of her petite lips through the black leather like material that he used to silence her. Staying close to him for a few seconds, Rikku and Titus touches lips to lips or at least as close as they are going to get according to the situation. Slowly, Rikku pulls away with her eyes still implying everything she wants.

"Rikku...."

Titus whispers, his breath short of air and it may be caused by the battle he endured but mostly it's reacting to his and Rikku's current interaction. Trailing his left hand down through her ceeks and to her colar bone and eventually to her chest, Rikku shudders from the thought of his cold hand running down on sensitive areas of her body. She can defintely feel herself reacting to what his touch is trying to accomplish and so in response she lets off a soft moan. With her arms unable to touch or feel him, her mind starts to go crazy since all she wants at the given moment is to reciprocate his actions. She wants to feel him and she wants her lips to touch his. Signalling again, Rikku leans forward trying to extend her lips through the gag.

"_Take me.... Please...._"

She says and Titus responds by slipping the black gag off her face. She lets out a gasp of air from finally being able to take air through her mouth. Her first insitinct is to lunge her face foward meeting her lips to Titus'. Fortunately, Titus has the same thing in his mind as he leans his head towards her and in mere moments they lock in a full kiss. Not the kind of kiss that last for mere moments, but one that involves the rhythm of both their tongues and their lips caressing in the heated moments. It's almost like their tongues are dancing which makes Rikku get the sudden urge for more. She pushes her head forward and Titus declines with her keeping well in mind that he is her balance since her hands are still tied. As they keep going downwards on what seems to be leading to a lying down position, Titus keeps his right hand on her abdomens, gently and willingly brushing through her nicely toned stomach while her left hand playfully caressing her right breast through her bra. Of course he can't help but feel his masculine tendencies from reacting while Rikku's body are getting waves of sensations from Titus' touch and from her own bondage. Slowly they go down together with Titus being her supportive balance. Soon enough they are lying down, their bare flesh touching as Rikku finds her weight on Titus. Their kiss never stopped while Titus' hands lingers to her thighs and up to her rear delighting Rikku with the same touch he has been doing since the beginning of this lustful connection. With Titus no longer worrying about Rikku's lack of balance issue, his left hand starts working on the ropes that holds her wrists together but with Rikku desperately fighting against the bonds it makes untying them twice as hard to do since the knots are clamping even tighter. Rikku is aching to touch him and she isn't exactly sure how it got this intense and neither does Titus.

_"Why am I doing this?" _Is what is going on Titus' head. Not too long ago she was trying to stab him, now she's trying to claim his sexuality.

_"Is this real?"_ Rikku asks herself. She hasn't felt like this since she and Gippal got close a year ago. But this is different. This is stronger.

_"Or just my fantasy?" _In the same moment, Titus is asking the same question.

Writhing her arms in so many different directions, Rikku is now starting to get sexualy agitated and bites Titus' lower lip which causes him to grip the ropes tight making the tension tighter. Rikku releases a moan which of course excites Titus even more and he returns the favor by taking both his hands and grips her waist, enjoying the softness of her skin and the feel of her pulled in tighter towards his groin. No longer working on her bonds, Rikku fights even harder forcing every muscle she has to go against the grip that has placed her completely useless with her hands. She can feel his member rubbing against his pants and through her thong, teasingly touching her sensitive area making her thirst more for him being inside. Sliding her head down on his neck, she places her lips on the side of his neck, and like a vampire, Rikku takes a bite and sucks on his flesh making him dig his fingers through her sides giving her a wild painful and yet beautiful sensation.

"Rikku...." His voice is quivering from the feeling. ".... Is this...."

"Take me..." Rikku whispers letting her breath blowing on him. Her hair clinging on to his body from the sweat that has accumulated from the process. ".... Take me..."

Rikku still has no idea why she suddenly has this surge of sexual hunger, but she stopped caring about it a long time ago. For Titus, he was reluctant to even press even more, but he has been concuring with Rikku's every actions. He wasn't going to take it by force since he knows it would be a giant dishonor, however with her practicaly pleading, Titus is more than willing to do it. Grabbing her by her shoulders and slowly easing her off, Titus rolls to his left and placing Rikku on her back, making her lie down on her bound hands. Her legs conveniently wraps around his waist making the process ready for the taking. He can feel her smooth complexion brushing up on his bare flesh which excites him pass the limit break of what he would expect form such a foreign world. His hands leaves her shoulders and slides down to her chest, slowly untying the strings keeping her bra in front, then they slide down to her stomach and lingering themselves down to the string of her thong that is clinging on her waist. He then starts pulling down on her green skirt slowly while Rikku bites her lower lip and her fists underneath her clenching from the anticipation of him starting to undress her. She can feel her bare back and her arms brushing against the rough ground of the Thunder Plains, but the amount of pleasure she is recieving, or she will recieve completely nullifies the irritation of the ropes and the ground. All she wants is for him to go inside. All she wants is for him to fulfill that dream that she had some months ago into reality. Titus has the same concuring thought and he is going to go through it. As Rikku takes her legs off so that Titus would be able to adjust to pull her skirt down, something loud breaks the moment. It wasn't lightning and they both know it. Looking at the direction where the sound came from, Rikku's eyes widen as she gasps at the sight. Titus unsure of how to take a sight of a girl with a big gun pointing at him stops dead on his tracks with one hand on Rikku's skirt pulling it half way down, while the other on the outside of her left thigh.

"Get away from my cousin." Her voice is stern as the gun this girl hold on her right hand is dead on Titus' head.

"Yuna...." Rikku mutters underneath her breath as she doesn't exactly know how to make this situation look not too awkward.


	6. Chapter 6: Advent Crisis

_**Chapter VI -Advent Crisis**_

_Some time ago...._

Yuna has been running through the Thunder Plains for a little while trying to find Rikku through the mist that Rin said she was last seen. From what Yuna has observed through her surroundings that Rikku was defintely here. To her dread though Yuna found one of her daggers stabbed on a rock with the cactuar emblem on it and her other one not too far away. As Yuna picks them up, she notices that one of them has blood which signifies that some sort of conflict happened. Putting them away, Yuna takes one of her Tiny Bees out and quickens her pace for she knows somewhere close are fiends and whatever danger met Rikku. All she can think about is the safety of her cousin and she hopes that nothing serious has happened to her. So as fast as her legs would allow her, Yuna sprints through the plains. Along the way fiends of different sorts try to stop her but with accuracy in her mind, Yuna shoots each fiend down with a bullet or two. For the most part she avoids a lot of them and she finds herself close to the end of Thunder Plains where Macalania woods would start but something stops her dead in her tracks. An Iron Giant seems to be in the way and Yuna can't help but disdain at the situation. These are no push over fiends and it'll take more than a few bullets to take it down. Taking her other Tiny Bee out, Yuna points both of them at the fiend and starts going Trigger Happy for as long as she can. Bullets seems to be bouncing off as the Iron Giant merely lifted its sword up and slashes down at Yuna's direction.

"No good!"

Yuna yelps as she cease firing and jumps out of the way of the gigantic sword. As she lands , she seems to notice something unusual about this Iron Giant and the ones she and her guardians fought in the past. This one seems bigger. Usually they would average no taller than a lightning rod but this one seems to be incredibly taller and more massive in size. With not much choice but to go against it, Yuna has to keep her mind focused as she points her guns at the fiend again, hoping she can hit and cause damage. As she was about to shoot, the Iron Giant seems to have responded to something. Letting off a very low and yet loud grunt, the fiend drops its guard and starts to turn its back at Yuna. Knowing that this would be to her advantage Yuna starts to shooting. However she didn't get much shots in as more fiends seem to take note of her and starts to dash her way in all different breeds such as flans, elementals, and even drakes. Yuna immediately has to make sure each of her shot is as accurate as can be with the drakes, but when dealing with the magic fiends, Yuna knew she has to make sure her game plan is different. Jumping in the air, Yuna's Tiny Bees glows in a bluish light and surrounds her with the same aura. Eventually when the light disappears, Yuna lands in a tight leather like armor that covers most of her flesh from head to shoulders. The reddish and bronze color scheme is defintely out of place with the water elemental sword that she holds in her hand that Tidus once used. It's called the Brotherhood. Yuna holds it tightly in her right hand as she feels the warrior dressphere enhance her strength.

"Resistance is futile!" Yuna shouts confidently as the element and the flan shuffle their way towards her while they summon magic.

With the drakes dealt with, Yuna subdues the elemental based fiends with the corresponding elements that they don't do well against. The flan is mostly water so Yuna bombards it with a lightning blade and finally the red element that attacks her is no match against the icebrand and she kills it with one clean cut. It takes some time before she finishes them all off but eventually she is surrounded by pyreflies that are remenants of the fiends that once threatened her life. Clutching the Brotherhood tight, a bright glow starts to surround her and soon enough Yuna reverts back to her Gunner dressphere. With both guns close, Yuna reminds herself about the Iron Giant who seems to be stronger and bigger than usual that she still has to deal with. As she heads towards the direction of where the giant fiend went, Yuna is astonished to see from the distance to see the a bright red glow. Then as it got brighter, it disappears just as fast as it lit up. The ground beneath her shook as a wave of dust flies at her from where the light orginated from.

"Are demons really entering Spira?"

As Yuna runs as fast as she can towards the area where the light was shining, she can't help but think about the disaster that could possibly be happening in her own world. She worked so hard with the others to create this Eternal Calm and now things may be compromised with what the Angel Kamea has told her. So many things shuffling through her mind and so little time to ponder about it. For right now moving forward is her goal. For this moment, finding Rikku is her concern. Passing through the second to the last lightning rod before Macalania Woods, Yuna starts to notice some movements not too far away as well as sounds of what would seem like voices. Putting one of her Tiny Bees away, Yuna clasp the gun in both hands to assume she has to be more of a sharpshooter. So far she's only run across fiends but with the strange occurences this night, anyone aside from familiar face can be a threat. Carefully and as stealthly as she can, Yuna walks towards the movements keeping the gun ready. As she got closer and closer, she starts to recognize human forms. There's two of them and it seems like one is on the knees while the other is lying down. Yuna thought there is something rather odd about it but she soon realizes that the two are in a very intimate position. Being in the Thunder Plains, Yuna can only ponder some more how strange it would be for anyone to do this in here out of all places and out of all times. Then as she got closer she recognizes the one lying down to be none other than Rikku. Yuna's heart stops.

"Rikku?"

Her voice was loud, but not loud enough to carry through. When Yuna realizes that the man on top of her, a male with dark short hair, and his shirt completely off to show his bare upper body which is dark skin in complexion has her pinned down with her hands bound behind her. Her bra is untied and the man is pulling off her skirt slowly to reveal her yellow thong. Yuna's body tensed and her mind is filled with rage. Yuna has very few support in Spira and they are Lulu, Wakka, Khimari, Cid, and Rikku. They are her family and if one of them is in danger, Yuna is more than happy to lay down her life to protect them. Lately the only one she has been worrying about is Rikku since the young Al Bhed seems to be a little off in terms of confidence. One wouldn't know because of the way she decides to carry herself through her mannerism and her very flaunting way of dressing, but Yuna knows that deep down inside there is something missing in her. Aside from that, Yuna worries about the male population trying to get the best of her cousin since Rikku is no doubt a pretty girl through personality and physical appearance and it doesn't help much that she boasts that out by wearing a short skirt, bikinis, and a long scarf in battle. That dreaded nightmare is now a reality and Yuna can't help but feel scared and furious at the sight she is seeing now. Pointing her gun in the air Yuna shoots and allows the loud sound of the gun echo through the empty night that even the loud roars of lightning couldn't cover. Immediately after she fires the gun, she points the gun at the man who now gave her his undivided attention.

"Get away from my cousin."

"Yuna...."

Rikku's voice is short handed from the lack of breathe. She wanted to tell Yuna to stop, but her communication skill has been drained by her interaction with Titus.

"It's okay, Rikku," Yuna's eyes never left Titus as she comforts her cousin. "Now, get away from her."

Titus met Yuna's eyes with his own as he slowly eases himself off Rikku. He raises his hands as he slowly gets to his feet, leaving the nearly unclothed Al Bhed lying down on the ground as he takes a few steps back. His hands still up trying to show her that he won't try anything. Yuna advances forward as Rikku tries her best to get herself in a sitting position while being aware that her bra is ready to swing open to reveal her breast. With her hands tied behind her still, Rikku still finds it difficult to even get up.

"Yunie... wait..."

"Rikku," While her gun still pointing at Titus, Yuna crouches near Rikku and starts to work on the ropes that keeps her arms pinned. "What did he do to you?"

"Yunie, it's not... how it looks..."

Because of how affective Titus tied the knots and the fact that she's only using one hand, it took a little while to get the ropes off but nonetheless Yuna managed to set Rikku free. With her hands no longer constricted, Rikku immediately tends to her wrists hoping to get the circulation back in proper order. Yuna stands back up and holds her gun with both hands and points it directly towards Titus' head. Her eyes narrowing from anger and for the first time in a while she has this feeling of taking a life. Titus stays calm and his red eyes staring straight back at her.

"You should listen to Rikku," He let his words carry softly. "It's not how it looks."

"Don't say anything." Yuna replies harshly, her trigger finger ready to pull. "You don't mess with my family, whoever the hell you are!"

Titus stays still not entirely sure how if he should react or do as she says. Titus can feel that she has a very strong sense of courage in her, but at the same time he can feel a little doubt if she will be able to pull the trigger or not. Regardless of she will pull or not, Titus doesn't like the idea of a gun being pointed at him again. In his mind he already made the decision, but before he is able to take one step, Rikku jumps in front of him in between Yuna and himself. Her arms extended vertically trying to cover him from Yuna's sight.

"Yunie, you don't understand…."

"Rikku, what are you doing?!"

"I told you….. it's not how it looks."

Yuna can't help but avert her eyes towards Rikku's right wrist that still has the ropes coiled around it and the fact that her yellow bra is untied with her breast pretty close to exposure. She managed to get her skirt up, but with her hair in a disheveled mess, her breathing still short, and her body still glowing from what has transpired. With all that In view, Yuna can't help but think of anything but the fact that she was being raped. Why she is protecting this man, that is what Yuna is trying to find out.

"Rikku," Yuna pulls her gun away from pointing slowly so that it wouldn't be aimed at her cousin. "What's going on, and who is this guy? And the most important question is… why was he undressing you in the middle of the Thunder Plains?"

The young Al Bhed caught Yuna's eyes that are implying about her open bra and her nearly exposed breast. Nearly turning red from blushing, Rikku quickly starts lacing her bra back up and puts on the most embarrassed cover up smile she can.

"Well it's kind of like he's lost…. And he…found his way here…"

"Here as in…. with you?"

"No…. that's not what I meant… I was trying to say that he is a stranger to this world. He doesn't know anything and…"

"Yuna, you there?!"

Suddenly, Buddy's voice breaks the moment as he calls through Yuna's intercom. Both Yuna and Rikku exchange glances for a few seconds before Yuna replies.

"Yuna here."

"Did you find Rikku?"

"Yeah."

"Good. If she's okay you better head back and help Rin. They have some problems that might be a little too much for a small band of Al Bheds."

Yuna stares at Rikku and then glances at her friend.

"Got it. Rikku, you're going to need these."

Handing her the twin red daggers, Rikku grabs them with relief and sheathes them behind her. She looks back towards Titus who is still standing still shirtless with his red eyes glowing.

"You still going to help?"

"Of course."

"Can he handle fiends?"

Both Rikku and Titus respond to Yuna with a very strange expression in their faces.

"He saved my life from an Iron Giant."

"Actually, that was half my fault."

"Thank you by the way." Rikku smiles at him awkwardly.

"No problem."

Yuna wants to acknowledge how she can notice that Rikku is definitely into this guy, however with Buddy's call that is their primary objective. It is a big relief to know that her cousin is safe. As Rikku walks by her side and the man walks behind them, she comes to realize that she doesn't know the stranger's name. Stopping for a second, Yuna tilts her head.

"What's your name?"

"Titus."

Yuna stares at Rikku who gives her a shrug for a response. She then turns her eyes towards Titus who is standing nonchalantly waiting for them to move.

"What?"

"Did you say, TIDUS?"

Rikku knew this was anticipating Yuna's response with his name which was similar to hers.

"TITUS."

"That's what I said, Yunie."

Yuna stares at Titus for a few seconds with perplexed thoughts. A stranger to arrive in such a distraught time and then he bears a name that resembles a certain someone and not to mention he was very close to her cousin in the most awkward way gives Yuna more things to think about.

"Is there something I did this time?"

"Don't worry," Rikku leans closer to him winking. "I'll have to explain later."

Not too long ago they were at each other's throat, then they were intimately close just mere moments ago, and now they are talking like they have been friends this whole time. Titus can only shrug and then follow the girls' pace as they start running towards the direction the danger seems to be from. As they run further in this place called the 'Thunder Plains', Titus can feel something familiar and yet feral at the direction they are running towards and in that same area there are gunshots and screams that can be heard from far away. Soon enough they can see a large monster looming over the plains and from its long body and its gigantic reptilian face, its easy to see that it can be none other than a serpent of some kind.

"No it can't be!" Rikku stops in her tracks causing Titus and Yuna to stop.

"What is it, Rikku?" Yuna turns her head at her cousin to see the terrified expression in her face.

"Yunie, can't you tell what it is? That's a Midgar Zolom!"

"What's a Midgar Zolom?"

Both girls then turn to Titus then back at the snake like creature as it slithers and attacks the small army of Al Bheds that are under Rin's command.

"It is a monster from the era of the Final Seven," Rikku explains, dreading the thought of it. "It was said that it roamed a the lands near a city called 'Midgar' that took out several travelers that it would come across."

"But it's suppose to be extinct," Yuna adds with a worried tone in her voice. "What is it doing here?"

"That can't possibly matter right now," Titus walks pass Rikku and Yuna clenching fist tight. "If it's harming your people, we better do something about it, quick."

Yuna turns her head to Rikku who shrugs at her and follows Titus. Yuna can almost admire the man's words although there is still something about him that doesn't sit well with her. Regardless of what her gut tells her, he is right. Every second Al Bhed are getting annihilated by this monster and there is no time for history lessons. Taking her gun, Yuna picks up her pace to follow Titus and Rikku who are now charging towards the beast so to cover their tracks, Yuna aims her gun and starts shooting at the gigantic snake. Because they are coming from the rear, Yuna mostly hit the beast's 'hood' which of course does enough damage for it to hiss in pain. It turns around letting the three see its snake eyes glowing in a golden light as it narrows from anger. It opens its mouth letting its snake tongue slither in between its fangs.

"Rin, take your men and get out!!!"

As its attention is now drawn towards them, Rin took heed of Rikku's warning and signals his men to move out. Yuna then braces her gun and allows the power of the dress sphere to shift surrounding her with a bluish glow which changes her to the white mage sphere. Now completely covered in a white robe with red designs embroidered on it, Yuna looks over her hood while holding her ex summoning staff.

"No worries, I'll protect us!"

Channeling the powers of white magic, Yuna allows the energy to travel through her body, to her staff, and right to the others to surround them with a magic wall that will aid them against physical and magical attacks. From what Yuna has read about the Zolom is that it is good with both sides of attack pattern so casting the wall is more than adequate for the situation. Titus can feel the warm surge of energy encasing him and although relieved for the aid, he knows for a fact that he can't afford to take a hit from it at all and neither can the girls. The Zolom is colossal in comparison to them so he has to make sure he moves through its length and massiveness as safely as he can to get the proper range that he needs. Unlike the Iron Giant however, this one is keen to his speed as it shuffles its long body across rendering his advance completely useless for he would've gotten hit if he didn't decide to retreat. Rikku had the same problem as she finds herself flipping away and landing near Titus.

"We can't get close!"

Titus turns to Rikku to acknowledge her but seeing how he is limited to his fist, he has no choice but to be close, but she was right, he can't move in. The Zolom then take advantage of this and hisses at them again and before they know it, it releases a wave of fire at them giving them very little time to dodge. Realizing this, Titus jumps in front of Rikku and covers her as much as he can. He growls as he can feel the fire singe through his flesh. When the fire was over, Titus turns around with his eyes glowing in red.

"You okay?" Rikku wanted to touch him, but she can tell his flesh is very sensitive to a touch as of right now. "Yuna!"

"Don't worry! Titus, here!!!"

Yuna casts another spell which heals Titus' current wounds. The green aura starts to repair the damage that was given to him mere moments ago. As he feels himself healed, his eyes suddenly catches a sword that is on the ground close to the Zolom. Probably from one of the Al Bheds trying to fend this beast off. He turns to Yuna and Rikku.

"I need cover!"

"Well, since it's playing that way…" Rikku crosses her daggers in front of her and allows a wall of fire to surround and cover her body entirely. "Burn you, shock you, so many choices not enough time!!!"

When the blazing wall finally dissipates, Rikku is no longer wearing her green skirt, scarves, and boots. Instead her new choice of outfit is completely different. Mostly in a purple tint, Rikku's new choice is the Black Mage sphere that is easily described as more like a 'witch' theme. In her right hand is a staff mixed with colors of blue, green, and gold with the top of it having a very unique design which she uses to summon magic. Standing with one leg in front of the other, Rikku uses her left hand to brush her fingers across the rim of her pointy hat as the last of the fire flickers from her change of clothing. For a moment, Titus stares at her blankly.

"Okay…." He can't help but be a little confused with the color scheme with the green and purple leg stockings, the red skirt, black and gold arm sleeves, then the pointy hat with the little feather on top. "What exactly is the point of that?"

"Magic. We're going to need magic."

Titus wanted to say something else, but the Zolom attacks again by using its tail like a whip towards them so in response, Titus grabs Rikku by the waist and jumps out of the way as the giant reptilian tail hit's the ground. Landing away but still in range from the beast, Titus sets Rikku down and turns around ready to attack or evade. Rikku grips her staff tightly and lifts it up high to allow the purplish aura of black magic to travel through her body. The Zolom sees this and attacks forward and opening its mouth widely ready to snatch its prey in its jaws. Titus prepares to counter the attack but Yuna then braces her staff and unleashes a barrier spell to deflect the attack. The snake hissed in pain as it hit an invisible wall instead of flesh like it was expecting. Titus was ready to strike but he is relieved that Yuna made that move.

"Thanks Yunie! Titus, as soon as I throw this, its all yours!"

Titus nods and prepares to advance. When he gets the diversion he needs, he will be able to get the sword to cause greater damage that he needs.

"ZzzzAP!!!"

Rikku's enthusiasm even in a fight is unwavering and Titus can't help but smile to himself. As soon as Rikku brings her staff to point at the Zolom's direction, a wave of lightning originating from the heavens comes crashing on the monster giving it a very painful experience that it turns its head away. With it's attention averted to the agony, Titus advances forward and along the way picks up the sword on the ground and grasps it with both hands tightly. Although he isn't entirely sure if he knows how to use it, he attacks with it anyway. Getting close enough in a small amount of time, Titus takes the sword and stabs it at the Zolom's body letting the greenish like blood to ooze all over him. To his dismay however Titus realizes that he plunged the sword too deep and now it is hard to pull the blade out.

"Yunie!" Rikku realizes the situation and turns to her cousin as she raises her staff again to manipulate energy. "I need more time to fire another one! But Titus is going to need help!"

"Right!"

With a thought, Yuna's staff dissolves into feathers and she is once again engulfed in a light and soon after, a gunshot emerges from the light and Yuna is once again in her Gunner dress sphere. Taking out both Tiny Bees, Yuna starts shooting at the Zolom relentlessly. The bullets may not kill but it does hurt the beast as it keeps it distracted so that it won't focus on Titus who is still struggling to move the blade. As Yuna keeps going Trigger Happy, Rikku manages to gather the right amount of power.

"Forecast, COLD!" Once again Rikku points her staff and a iceberg appears above the Zolom and slams on it painfully.

With enough effort and the proper amount of time given, Titus finally gets a slack on his blade and as he wiggles it, Titus bends his knees then pushes up with his body weight and takes the blade with him for an upward like slash ripping through the Zolom's body in a vertical cut as he jumps up in the air. Blood, guts, skin, and just about everything gore sprays all over him until the point where he reaches the peak of his jump where Titus recovers by flipping backwards landing a few feet away from the mess he just made. Yuna sees this as an opening and uses her thumb to click something in her guns and makes her guns fire faster while Rikku gives one last final shot of a thunder spell which hit's the open wound of the beast which no doubts ends the threat real quickly. As Titus prepares himself to fight some more, the Midgar Zolom starts to fade away in a reddish glow until finally it disappears all together. A final hiss of pain echoes from the dying monster and eventually the only remainder of its existence are the bloody mess that Titus made. The three of them stand staring into the emptiness where the snake once stood, but after a few moments they came to a realization it's safe. Yuna sighs in relief and blows on the end of her gun as she puts her other hand on her hip. Rikku spins to her left and when she stops, she sticks her rear out and points her staff at the direction of where the Zolom was.

"Oh Yeah!" Rikku adds that in with her victory pose.

Titus on the other hand doesn't know what to say or do. Of course he is relieved that the immediate threat is neutralized however there is so much more confusion in his head than answers. With the blade in his hand, he flips it around and catches the hilt again after it takes a circular spin in the air. Still lost in thoughts, he turns around to notice that both Rikku and Yuna are staring at him with a surprised expression in their face.

"What now?"

There has been a lot of shocking things lately about this whole day and Titus was more asking his question rhetorically. From the way they are looking at him he did something again that leaves them amazed again.

"Yunie…."

"I saw."

When Titus flipped the sword over and caught it, it reminded them of how Tidus used to play with his sword after a fight. It was a very similar mannerism that brought Yuna to another nostalgic feeling. His name sounding very similar doesn't help things much. Rikku knows this but found no words to say. She looks down for a moment before looking back up at Titus.

"You're quite the skilled fighter."

Titus looks at the blade in his hand which is covered by the creature's blood. He then looks at Rikku and Yuna who still have their eyes on him.

"So you said that the creature we just fought isn't suppose to be here?"

"No," Rikku spins her staff and retracts the Black Mage sphere and reverts back to her usual outfit. Her scarf is blowing from the force of the transformation. "That Iron Giant doesn't seem to be normal either…"

"The fiends are a little more aggressive and massive in number," Yuna adds. "It all started from that shooting star we saw earlier."

"Shooting star?"

"Buddy can probably brief you," Yuna reloads her gun while keeping her attention at Rikku. "But we need to take a final cover of the Thunder Plains to make sure there aren't anymore strange beings like that."

"Lady Yuna," Coming from the corner is Rin and a few of his men. "We appreciate your help, but from my understanding is that fiends' activities are getting a little bit more aggressive around Spira. You might be needed somewhere else. We should be able to handle things here."

"Dned'm Nur! Ni'm dni yhi dned eddesit om!"

Titus understood what one of Rin's men said and recognizing the outfit, he realizes that it was one of the Al Bheds he dealt with earlier before he met Rikku. He's relieved that nothing serious happened to them and they were picked up before the fiends could, however the situation right now doesn't look too good. Rikku runs in front of him again getting in front of the rifles that are pointed at him.

"Rin, it was a misunderstanding! He's on our side!"

"Rikku?"

"He saved my life! And not to mention he helped us slay that Zolom!"

Rin is taken aback from Rikku's words and signals his men to lower their guns. He then turns his attention to Yuna.

"Lady Yuna, is it true?"

"Yes," She nods without hesitation. "He helped us a lot. And if Rikku trusts him, I trust him."

For a while there is an awkward silence as Rin stares at Yuna, Rikku, then at Titus. He turns back to his Al Bhed not too long after and signals them to go. Turning around once more, Rin clears his mid length blonde hair from his face as he takes a step closer towards Yuna.

"You saved Spira and gave us an Eternal Calm," His voice is gentle as his spiral green eyes doesn't blink. "So whoever you feel is on your side, we will honor that."

"Thank you."

Rin nods then heads over to Rikku with a more stern expression on his face.

"Your father wouldn't be too happy with your protecting someone who harmed an Al Bhed, even still, you are good at heart. I'll trust your judgment as well. Zedsn nel. Ni'm terkihyom."

"Thanks, Rin," Rikku smiles. "Ni gryzm zned ayo meut."

Rin is a little shocked with the fact that a stranger would understand their native tongue. It's obvious that Titus is not Al Bhed from the way he dresses and the color of his eyes. So taking that into consideration, Rin nods and signals his men to walk away. Rikku and Yuna then turn to Titus.

"So," Rikku walks up close to him. "I know you're lost and you need help. But it just so happens that we could use your help too. So I'll tell you what…"

Titus Listens attentively.

"You help us deal with this crisis and we'll try and see if we can help you out with your memory and where you came from. We have a deal? That is of course if Yunie agrees with me."

"I'm fine with it," Yuna gives Rikku a slight nod and then turns her eyes towards Titus. "As long as he's willing to work with us."

"Like I have anywhere else to go or anything else to do," With a slight sarcasm in his voice he steps forward and stabs the sword on the ground. "I'll help. I don't like the idea of innocent people getting hurt."

As his words echo in their head, Celsius comes flying down and hovers down so that the Gullwings are able to jump on board. With them concurring, Rikku and Yuna invites Titus to join them in their ship so that they would be able to travel faster to patrol Spira and eliminate all the extensive activities of the fiends. For the first time since he 'woke up', Titus feels a welcome feeling and that he is finally able to ease himself a little more. These two girls who he met in the strangest circumstance definitely seem friendly and trustworthy, not to mention he has some sort of a connection with Rikku, the younger of the two. In his mind however is still this dark feeling looming over and as he walks inside of the ship, he feels a cold sensation as if a voice is calling him from behind. As he looks back, he sees a dark shadow of a man with long hair. His eyes are bright greenish blue and it is staring right at him. Titus wanted to walk towards him but the hatch of Celsius starts to close.

"_Lucifer…" _

The shadow seems to have called him.

"_This is just the beginning. You and I will use this planet as a ship to see my mother…"_

The hatch closes and soon only the echoes of what the man said remains for Titus to remember. Rikku then breaks his strain of thoughts by calling him, and reluctantly he follows her inside.


End file.
